Sins of the Father
by Keith NR
Summary: Luffy's father sends him away for fear of what his mother might turn the boy into. Luffy's mother sends him away so she can fight the unjust world. How could they have known one night of passion could turn the world upside down? AU
1. Life

Chapter 1: Life

 **January 1st, Totland**

A fire crackled in the fireplace. The overly sweet smell of candy permeated the room. On an abnormally large bed lay two people, a man and a woman. They were naked.

"You can't stay here, you know what Mama will do to him when she finds out he's mine"

"Yeah, I know"

"Then why do you keep on coming back? If we are caught then… I don't even want to think about it" He turned his head away. Dragon stared at him a moment longer and simply shook her head. Honestly sometimes he didn't even think.

"If I don't spend time with you now I'll regret it forever, you know that!" She turned her head up at him. He ignored her, or at least he tried. In the end the only things he couldn't resist were donuts and well, her.

"Of course I know that, and there's no reason to yell at me" Katakuri looked down at her with a small smile. Her follow up comment seemed less important now, and her sanguine smile fell off her face and suddenly Katakuri looked pensive again.

"I can't raise him either. With the Revolutionaries beginning to gain ground I'm needed now more than ever" She frowned. Suddenly an idea popped into her head, but the moment she rounded on Katakuri the words died on her lips at his look. She had forgotten that he could see into the future.

"Garp?! If even half the things you said about him are true then he would be an even worse choice than Mama!" His glower seemed to go right past her. Suddenly he stood and ambled his way over to the dresser. Presumably to get dressed.

She didn't outright agree with him, but really it didn't matter. Mostly because it was true With her it had been benign neglect from day one, which allowed her to form her own opinions on life without the overbearing hand of her father. Now Garp was semi-retired and spent more time in East Blue than out of it.

"You're right, but what choice do we have? It can't be any of your relatives, and I only have the one! Where else is he gonna go?" Her anger at him wasn't really justified, but it needed to go somewhere.

"I know we don't have a choice, but I still don't have to like it! Why does our son have to be deprived of a mother and a father?" He looked angry again, but this time it was less focused. She felt the same way, angry at the world.

"You're sure he can't stay here? Big Mom isn't really as bad as you say, right?" The hopeful tone didn't quite make it to her face. She knew just how bad Big Mom was.

"If it is a boy like you say, he'll be forced to fight for her until he dies or until she does. If it is a girl then she'll be married off when it is most convenient and be forced to live with some fat noble forever" By now he had gotten fully dressed and leaned against his arm chair. A frown marred his face as he stared at her.

Despite all of Katakuri's assurances to his siblings and his mother, the reason he stayed in the crew wasn't Family Loyalty, but rather his own lack of ambition. He had the strength to become a legendary pirate captain, and the haki to back it up. However his mother had instilled loyalty in him from day one, and it wasn't so easy to break that. Her methods had been effective to say the least, and if he ever decided he wanted to leave then he was sure his siblings would pay in blood.

"So if it can't be me and it can't be you, we are left with Garp" Dragon tried not to sound too hopeless, but she knew it was pointless. Katakuri looked as hopeless as she felt.

She walked over to the dresser and pulled her shirt over her head. It took her less than a minute to be fully dressed, and when she was she turned to Katakuri and pulled his shirt down to give him a kiss. Their last one.

"Don't forget about me, or our baby boy" She had tears in her eyes and her fist trembled. She didn't need to glance up to know he did too.

"As if I ever could. I'll-I'll look for you in the papers. Good luck Dragon, you'll need it" He pulled her into a hug and wiped his tears on her jacket. When he let go she turned and walked out the door, and Katakuri reached over to his scarf.

"Time to go to hell" His voice came out muffled and his eyes were red, but no one would dare comment on that to him of all people.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **May 5th, Unknown Location**

Screams echoed down the hallways and bounced right into people's ears. Despite the awful sounds no one dares make a noise to stop it. After all their beloved Dragon-sama was giving birth today, and if they dared make a move to shut her up, well it wouldn't go well.

Ivankov however, was one of few people who could mostly do as they pleased, so the moment Dragon's screams began to fill the bustling halls of their current base he left. Outside away from all of the hubbub, he stared off over the sea.

'Vi couldn't believe it when she told me she vas pregnant. Vi didn't even think she knew what having sex was! Still, I wonder who the vather is, after all who could possibly keep up with-' His musings were cut short when a man burst out from the door behind him.

"Ivankov-sama! Come quick!" He all but screamed, and promptly turned on his heel and dashed down the hallway.

"Ehhh?! Vou're not going to tell me vhat is going on?" Ivankov was stunned, and then he jumped into action and began to follow behind him. He noticed idly that they weren't headed towards Dragon, but rather towards the bay.

'Must be some incoming ships. Her family perhaps? Or maybe zhe father?' He turned down the corridor and standing there in front of over a dozen crumpled soldiers was none other than Garp the Hero.

"Where is my daughter? Have you seen her? She is about yay tall and her face has this tattoo on it. I tried getting help from these guys but… They passed out" Garp looked around lamely, and suddenly Ivankov was terrified. Garp had just implied that _Dragon_ was his daughter, and it made sense. Dragon had monstrous strength for someone her size or any size really, and her attitude was just awful. Selfish and reckless just like Garp was reported to be.

"Eh hello Garp-san, Dragon-sama is busy right now please wait here with zhe rest of the visitors" Somehow Iva's voice didn't break, and he stared at Garp in hope.

He broke out laughing

"Bahahahaha! You have some nerve Emporio! Bahahaha, alright I'll wait like everyone else. Anyone have a chair for an old man?" The moment he turned everyone go out of their chair and offered it to him. He took one of the offered chairs and Ivan sat down across from him, and the whole room went silent.

That is until the screams started again

"OH I'M GONNA KILL THAT ASSHOLE WHEN I SEE HIM! I'LL BREAK HIS STUPID PELICAN NECK" Garp looked like nothing in the world was amiss, so everyone took cues from him, hoping he either already knew or didn't care that that was obviously his daughter.

"So Emporio how has Dragon been lately, I haven't seen my darling daughter in what feels like years. Bahaha, she seemed to be ignoring me up until about five months ago when I got a call out of the blue! And you wouldn't believe it, but she told me to come take some kid off her hands! That's crazy Huh?" Throughout his monologue he got closer and closer until he was so close he was touching Ivan's nose. He broke out into a cold sweat.

'This is the man who matched Gold Roger. Vhat am I to him?' He gulped, and decided to go with the truth, or at least the truth as she knew it.

"Eh he, you see Garp-san, Dragon-sama left us for some time back in August. She went to do some work in the New World and when she returned, well she vas pregnant, zhat is all I know" A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as he stared Garp down.

"Oh? I see so it's her kid is it? Damn brats aren't even responsible enough not to have a baby. Who is the dad?" Garp turned his attention to Ivan again.

"Ve don't know. Dragon-sama has not said" He sincerely hoped Garp believed him, because having Garp in his face was enough to make any man terrified.

"Hmm, Better not be some bad influence on her, she still has time to become a respectable marine afterall" With that Garp stood and began to walk toward the delivery room.

No one stopped him.

Suddenly the door flew open and the doctor walked out of Dragon's room.

"Dragon-sama has delivered a healthy baby boy! She is recovering now" He announced with glee, and turned on his foot back towards the room.

The entire base cheered, and Garp kept moving forwards. He disappeared from sight when he turned into the delivery room, and Ivankov sighed in relief.

'Time to leave before Vi have to deal with Garp-san again' and he too turned and left the room, just in the opposite direction.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

"Hello dad" Dragon's tired voice came out the moment he walked into the room. He turned and continued on until he could sit down at her side. She simply stared at the baby in her arms. Garp did too, it was a big baby.

"Hey Dragon, how are you? We haven't seen each other for awhile so I was worried you'd forgotten your dear old man" He sighed, playing it up for the daughter he had missed.

"Don't be a baby you old fool, you know that if I contact you you'll get in trouble, I may not be wanted yet but I will be soon" She simply shook her head and continued to stare at the baby boy.

"Yeah, I know, but if you had just been a marine like I said- hey what's that look for, you know I'm right" He crossed his arms at her.

"Doesn't matter if you are right, the marines are wrong. How could I serve a corrupt and evil government when I could be freeing people from it instead" here she smirked, "and besides being a marine is for stuffy old men, no one _cool_ was ever a marine, I mean look at Gold Roger!" the smile couldn't be wiped from her face no matter how hard Garp scowled.

"I'm cool and a marine! I even caught Roger! You damn brat, if you weren't holding that baby I'd give you a Fist of Love" he leaned his head down on her arm rest. "Whose is it anyways?"

"Mine" It was true.

"Who else? You can't make a baby on your own you know" he stared at her, but she simply looked at the ceiling.

"I can't tell you because you're a marine. You'd be forced to kill him someday, and I don't want that for you or for me" It was honest, that much Garp knew, but he didn't like it.

"I'm raising Roger's kid too you know… that's why I said yes, because i already have one back home to take care of" She looked a little surprised but not a lot

"Then he'll have someone his age. Good. kids need friends or they end up like us" she smiled at him and he smiled back.

"We are plenty cool! Why wouldn't someone wanna be like me? Bahahaha!"

"He's Charlotte Katakuri's son"

"WHAT?" His laugh fell immediately and his focus turned to the baby, who stared at him with crimson eyes. Katakuri's eyes.

"I'm lucky he didn't come out with pink hair, I don't think he'd be able to explain that away later" She pushed a small lock of black hair on his head. He cried.

"You're right I don't wanna know who the father is, It's a good thing you didn't tell me" Garp looked away from her and instead at the wall in front of him. The baby in Dragon's arms suddenly went quiet

"Thanks Dad" She held the baby out towards him and he halted for a moment as if to ask 'are you sure?' she simply nodded. He took the baby in hand and poked its nose while it lay there asleep.

"What is his name?"

"Monkey D. Luffy" Garp nodded his head and stared down at Luffy.

"I'll take him with me and raise him along with Ace. Don't worry, he'll be safe" He handed Luffy back to Dragon who simply held on to him like he would disappear.

"Thanks" He didn't comment on the tears in her eyes.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **AN:** With the end of WCI arc I have come to appreciate Katakuri's character quite a bit, so i am writing this mainly because I like him and partly because I couldn't get this out of my head. This is my first story here and may not be that great so review if you have anything to say to me.

-KNR


	2. Devil Fruit

Chapter 2: Devil Fruit

 **March 18th, Dawn Island**

Trees blurred past Luffy as he sprinted along the forest floor. Twigs snapped underneath his feet and bushes were trampled behind him as he blazed a path through the trees. To the casual observer it would seem as though Luffy simply ran about with no regard for direction whatsoever, and while mostly true there lay some method to his madness. Having lived among the trees for six years now Luffy knew his way through them like the back of his hand. However, to simply run towards his destination ruined the adventure that was dashing about the woods. And all of that aside, he was in fact running away from his problems.

' _Tch! They think they can make fun of me just because I'm super tall? Well I'll show them, I'll become so tall that I can stomp on them and then they'll see just how cool it is to be tall!'_ His thoughts came out choppy and uneven as he leapt from one boulder to another several feet away.

For anyone else on the island this particular jump and all others Luffy performed would be impossible, but due to his incredible size and unworldly physical abilities it was quite easy for him.

For some unknown reason, Luffy grew much faster than anyone else he or anyone else had ever known. At the age of six he already stood at 1.72 meters (~5'9"), taller than even Makino at the bar who was an adult!

In spite of this, or more likely because of it, the other kids made fun of him and no one his age wanted to be around him. Add in his monstrous strength and his less than impressive intelligence and he quickly became a laughing stock for nearly the entire town. His only allies being the bartender Makino, a small group of the kinder civilians and the pirate crew underneath Shanks, who had been making this island his home base for the last few months.

Luffy began to slow his sprint down to a jog when over the din of the forest he heard it, a yell

"PIRATE INCOMING"

He stopped dead on his feet and turned around to stare at where he came from. Only one pirate crew _ever_ came here, and that meant _Shanks._ A great big grin forced its way onto his face and Luffy broke out into a run back the way he came, All thoughts of bullies forgotten because _Shanks_ was coming, and Shanks said that a true pirate feared no one and nothing at all.

He made quick work of the trip back to town, clearing the forest grounds in less than then minutes despite the hours he had spent running through it, and when he finally broke through the line of trees he had one thought on his mind: _Shanks_.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **The Docks**

"Hey you scallywags get to scrubbing the poop deck!" Shanks turned and gave his best approximation of a glare from under his straw hat to his crew, "I won't accept anything but the best work for my ship damn it!" He turned his back on his crew and began marching down the gangplank stiffly.

"Captain why are you talking like that? You sound stupider than normal!" Lucky Roo came up on Shanks' side and peered at him through the sides of his shades. The rotund man had somehow made his way down to the pier before even Shanks had.

"I'm putting on a show for the adoring public Roo! And don't refer to me so casually, how will they see I am deserving of great respect if not even my top officers will give me any?" Shanks had turned his head to Benn who was promptly ignoring them and was instead ordering the crew on what to _actually_ do.

"But Captain, pretty much no one in this town has any respect for you anyways! They all see you as some dumb pirate who can't be bothered to go outside the East Blue. The only one who doesn't think so is Luffy, and he's just a kid" Yasopp made his way towards Shanks as he spoke, and finished with his hand on his captain's shoulder. Shanks pouted.

"If you guys treated me like a captain and not just _some guy_ then maybe I'd have more fans than just that damn noodle" He sighed and turned back towards his crew "Rescind those orders gents. Just, listen to Benn, I need a drink" He slinked off toward the bar with Yasopp and Roo in tow.

"You always need a drink Captain! Don't pretend that this is anything special!" His crew heckled him as he made his way, and the townsfolk began to chuckle at him. He sighed and continued on his way.

"Look at it this way Captain, at least you have Luffy! Although soon enough he'll be taller than you, and then he'll be forced to stop _looking up_ to you! HA!" Roo patted his impressive belly and took a large bite from a drumstick he had in hand. Shanks grumbled and pointedly ignored him. Yasopp joined in on the laughter and the three made their way towards the bar.

' _At least Makino likes me, maybe I can convince her to let me drink on the house?'_ Shanks and his small group rounded a corner to see the bar in the distance, with boisterous laughter coming through, and the telltale sound of a child's laughter, Luffy's laughter. Shanks smiled to himself and picked up his pace. His crewmates didn't comment.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **The Bar**

"-And then he called me 'Freak with more body than brains' and threw a rock at me! But I caught it and threw it back at him and it smashed to pieces on his stupid face! Shishishi!" Luffy's childish voice carried over the murmur of the bar and the small gasp Makino made caused Shanks to chuckle to himself. He made his way quickly to the spot at Luffy's side, his spot, and flopped down.

"What did I tell you before I left last time about bullies? Ah that's right 'only retaliate if they hurt your friends or else you are just as bad', Sound about right Lu? Or should I say Noodle?" Shanks smirked down slightly at Luffy. He sure had grown! The moment he began to speak Luffy's head snapped at him and the smile left his face and was quickly replaced with a frown.

"Stupid Shanks! Don't call me Noodle or I'll step on you too one day! I won't join your crew neither! And besides I don't even know what re-tail-ate means, so there!" Luffy huffed and turned his head from Shanks who simply smiled.

"It means to respond or more simply to take revenge. You know what that is don't you?"

"Duh! I get payback from those bullies all the time. Now they don't even say mean things to me anymore because they're too scared" Luffy turned back to Shanks.

"But now they think they were right all along. Instead of showing them how nice you can be you just made them think that they were right and you _are_ some kind of monster" Luffy frowned "Listen Lu, you can't just go beating everyone up, because then no one will like you like we do. If you only show people how strong you are they will never see the kindness underneath. What is more important; Proving you are the strongest or having friends to celebrate your victories with?" Shanks looked askance at Luffy who had began to hang his head.

"I'm not trying to be mean— they just hurt my feelings is all, and I'm not smart enough to prove they are wrong neither. What do I do Shanks? How can I make someone like me?" Luffy turned his head sideways to Shanks and he had tears in his eyes. Shanks nearly broke into tears himself but kept strong and took hold of Luffy's shoulder.

"It's simpler than you think Lu, just show them how nice you can be. If they are mean then tell them they are being mean, and when you feel like you can't take anymore then simply walk away. You made me like you easy peasy, so just do the same with them and you'll be fine" Shanks held Luffy close and smiled at Makino who'd had a small smile on her face the whole time. "Alright, now then let's get onto the good bit! How about I tell you about our most recent voyage?"

"Really?!" Luffy bounced from Shanks' grasp and stared up at him.

"Yeah, and I'll even show you something cool we picked up, it's called a Devil Fruit!" He held out a purple fruit with strange markings on it. "This one specifically is called the Gomu Gomu no Mi, or Gum Gum Fruit. It makes anyone who eats it into a rubber person! Pretty cool, huh?" he set the fruit aside and turned to look at Luffy who had stars in his eyes. Shanks smiled to himself "Now onto my legendary tale! " he turned more towards Luffy and began to spin his sensationalized story "It all began three months ago when we left the bay" He enraptured young Luffy and all the other people in the bar, and he didn't even notice when Benn and the others arrived, so invested was he in his own story telling.

His story continued on for what seemed like hours, but was in reality less than half of one.

"—and then a great Sea King the size of an Island leapt from the water at us, but I had no fear in my heart, and I turned to him and I said—" He looked down at Luffy with a severe look in his eye "—Get lost! And the cowardly sea snake slithered back down to the bottom of the ocean!" Shanks caught his breath and turned to Luffy " So what did you think? Great story huh?" He looked at Luffy who seemed utterly disgusted.

"Why did you give this to me Shanks? This fruit is so gross!" He wiped a piece of suspiciously purple fruit from his face and glared up at Shanks who had gone white along with the entire pirate crew within the bar. "What?" Luffy looked around in confusion.

"AH! Spit it out Luffy, throw it up immediately!" Shanks grabbed Luffy around the waist and began to shake Luffy up and down, and the moment he brought his hands down Luffy extended and his head slammed into the ground and bounced away. "AHHHH! What do we do? Luffy, do you know what this means? You can never swim again!" Luffy paled.

"What? No! How can I be a pirate if I can't even swim? Take it away Shanks! Take it!" Luffy thrust a piece of fruit into Shanks' hand but Shanks simply shook his head.

"It doesn't work like that! Now you're stuck as a rubber man forever! I'm sorry Lu, I shoulda been more careful" Shanks exhaled some nervous energy "But there's no point in panicking, there are tons of pirates with devil fruits!" Shanks scratched the back of his head. "Just be careful from now on, and I'll try and help you out what little I can, okay?" He ruffled a startled Luffy's hair and sat down and immediately downed his entire drink. The entire bar untensed somewhat, but the atmosphere was still rough.

The bar sat in silence for a few moments.

Shanks shook his head and stood back up. "Alright guys time for bed, we have some work to do early tomorrow morning" They groaned but began to file out "Luffy meet me by my ship tomorrow and I'll teach you a bit about devil fruits, okay? Just avoid the water for now I guess" Shanks slipped out of his chair and made his way to the door. "Get home safely, alright? I'll see you tomorrow" He left, and Luffy stood up and walked towards the door as well.

"See you tomorrow, Shanks! Bye, Makino!" and he too walked out the bar door and turned onto the street. Makino sighed and set about to clean up the bar, worried out of her mind for Luffy.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **March 19th, The Docks**

Shanks yelled out directions alongside Benn as his crew set to work repairing his ship. They had nearly run aground earlier, and had scraped their hull on some coral reefs, and now the Red Force needed a little TLC.

' _This is a nice distraction, but what do I do about Luffy? I can't believe I let him eat that damn fruit. This is all my fault, and now he may never be a pirate like he wants! No, NO! He will be, and I'll just give him some training like Captain Roger would have for me'_ Shanks nodded to himself and then to Benn who nodded back and began shouting commands. He would take care of Luffy, and Benn would handle this work here. ' _Now where's that damn tall brat anyways?'_

He turned the corner and ran directly into Luffy.

"Ah, Luffy! Follow me, we have to get to work right away!" he marched off without delay, and Luffy followed behind.

"What are we gonna do Shanks?" Luffy's long legs let him catch up to Shanks in no time, and he walked side-by-side with him.

"I'm going to teach you about Devil Fruits strengths and weaknesses and what you can and cannot do now that you have one. Then we will do some work with your actual ability so you know what to do with it to start with" Shanks began to march towards a clearing outside of town, and Luffy followed along.

"Cool" Damn right it is.

They reached the field with little issue, and Shanks stood in front of Luffy. "This will _not_ be easy. I'm not gonna be lax in this because it's partly my own fault. If you aren't serious about becoming strong enough to be a pirate without the ability to swim, then you need to march right back home" Shanks brooked no argument as he stared Luffy down.

"I'm ready Shanks! Let's train!"

"All right kid, let's go" He sat down and patted the ground next to him. "First, you have to learn about devil fruits and their properties, and what they _can_ and _cannot_ do" Luffy sat down instantly and turned all his attention to Shanks who scratched his scar under his eye.

"All right, let's do it!"

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

Luffy limped his way down the street towards the bar. Shanks had not been joking when he said it wouldn't be easy, and Luffy had the bruises to prove it. Meanwhile Shanks was whistling a jaunty tune as he _easily_ and _annoyingly_ made his way down the street several feet in front of Luffy.

They crossed the threshold into the bar and were greeted with loud cheer as Shanks' crew loudly invited them back into the fold. The had been gone for six hours, and the crew had finished most of the repairs and had begun to chart their next course. To celebrate they all came to the bar to get wasted, and wasted they were.

"Hey Makino! Can I get a bottle of Sake for me and a cup of juice for Lu? We had a rough workout today!" Shanks called boisterously and flopped down in his stool. Meanwhile Luffy carefully made his way up to the bar and gingerly sat himself down on a stool. He thanked his great height for the ease with which he got into his chair.

"Coming right up!" Makino's voice came through despite the chatter and Luffy simply leaned down setting his head on the bar. He ached.

"So Luffy! What say you we continue tomorrow afternoon? Hard work only settles in after you really beat yourself up!" Shanks smiled down at him and Luffy groaned but nodded his head anyways. "Good! Same time same place, and we can keep doing this until me and my crew leave for the next sea, how about that?" despite himself Luffy felt excited, and suddenly his renowned energy came flooding back into his body, and Makino set down their drinks.

"Yeah! Let's do it Shanks, one day I'll be the strongest pirate ever!" He turned and gulped down his juice.

Just then a man barged through the bar door and began to sneer imperiosuly at all those present, but his gaze lingered on Makino.

"What's a pretty girl like you doin in a bar like dis? You should be wit me! Come over ere and sit yerself down on my lap girlie! Har! And while yer at it get me and the boys some sake! Har!" The man slumped down in a chair and seemed to ignore everyone for a moment. Then he turned his gaze to the bar again. "Ello? I said get me some DAMN SAKE!" Makino eep'd and looked at Shanks pointedly. He stood up.

"Ah, it seems as though we've drunk it all. My apologies, good sir. I've got just this bottle left, but that seems to be all" He handed the bottle over and began to turn away, but was interrupted.

"You think one bottle is enough fer me and my boys to get hammered? Do yeh even know who I am?! I am Higuma the bandit, and I'm wanted fer 8 Million beri! One Bottle ain't gonna cover it! You stupid pirate!" Higuma lunged and smashed the bottle over Shanks' head sending Sake everywhere. The bar went quiet, and Makino turned away in fear. Luffy glared down at the table.

"Fine! Me and my boys will go get booze someplace else! We don't need this shitty bar anyways" He walked his way over to the door and stopped at the exit "Next time have some booze fer me or things'll get ugly, ya hear pirate?" He turned and made his way out of the bar, and Makino grabbed a mop from behind the counter.

"Sorry guys, I'll clean this up real quick" She began to mop, but Shanks simply grabbed her shaking hands and pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay Makino, no one minds a little mess, and I'm fine so don't worry about me either" He smiled at her and Luffy lurched to his feet.

"Why didn't you beat him up Shanks? He's so weak and dumb and you could beat him so easy! Why'd you let him insult you like that?" He screamed. He was angry, at himself for being scared, at Shanks for not attacking, at everyone. Shanks lowered himself somewhat to Luffy's height, and stared right into his piercing red eyes.

"You remember what I said earlier? The only way to deal with bullies isn't to acknowledge them even if they're right or wrong. They won't stop unless they know their bullying has no effect" Shanks turned his head toward a piece of glass on the floor " And if I got into a fight over some spilled sake how could I take myself seriously? That guy didn't hurt me and my friends are all okay, so he's left with no sake and no satisfaction and I'm totally fine" Shanks smiled at Luffy who seemed to be understanding now.

"Listen Lu, I know you're young so some stuff seems more important now, but when you get older like me you'll see that the stuff you care so much about now isn't really as important. That guy is a small fish in a big ocean, so getting worked up over some petty words and actions won't help me at all. You see?" Luffy nodded, and for once he _actually did_ see. Shanks only fought when he wanted to and when it was needed, and now Luffy wanted to be just like that.

He wanted nothing more than to care so little about the people who would harm him that they seemed as ants to him. In that moment Luffy felt more than saw his future, and to him it was simple; he and his friends roaming the sea together seeking their goals with no one to stand in his way.

"Yeah Shanks I understand now" Luffy turned and stared at the door that Higuma had stormed out of. "Hey Shanks, do you think I can be the pirate king too? Like your old captain was? Can I be free to do what I want with my friends just like that?" Luffy's back was turned to Shanks so he didn't see the surprised looks he was getting from the pirates and the civilians.

"Yeah Luffy, I do, you actually remind me a lot of him" Shanks smiled and stared at the ceiling "But the only way to do that is to become the greatest pirate captain ever. Better than me, and better than everyone else too, can you do that? You won't be able to be a pirate with me"

"Yeah, I can, I will. I'll be the King of the Pirates! And no one can ever stop me!" Luffy smiled and ran out the door.

"Where did he go?" Makino came up on his side holding a pan full of glass.

"To go train, he can't be the King if he isn't strong" Shanks smirked and followed Luffy out.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **AN:** Events are gonna happen out of canon order often, and things will be different. Most characters won't be too different from canon to begin with, but as the events that come change so too will they. Also I want to say that Luffy's parents will not likely be large factors until later, just like canon. That is not to say they won't appear however. I'll try to update every week on Wednesday my time, but who knows.

-KNR


	3. Role Model

Chapter 3: Role Model

 **March 20th, Dawn Island**

Sweat poured off of Luffy's frame and dripped freely onto the ground. When Shanks had told him yesterday that the training would be difficult he had smiled and been happy. Shanks was going to take him seriously! That meant he had earned the pirate's respect, and so Luffy sought out to show that he deserved it. He sorely regretted his vigor now as Shanks threw another punch at Luffy's unprotected right side and sent him flying into the distance.

' _Damnit! Shanks is so strong, I can't even hit him! If only I knew where his attacks were gonna be then he wouldn't be able to hit me as much any more'_ Luffy's thoughts ground to a halt as he watched Shanks' fist fly towards his stomach, again, only this time it looked like it moved in slow motion.

' _Is he taking it easy on me?! I'll show you Stupid Shanks!'_ Luffy easily dodged the punch and ignored the shocked look on Shanks' face as he leapt forward and drove his fist into Shanks' stupid face with the same strength he used to destroy trees in his way. Shanks didn't even budge.

' _Was that what I think it was? There's no way a six year old could even have Haki let alone use it to predict an attack! I guess there's only one way to find out'_ Shanks held up a hand to signal a stop, and Luffy huffed before he flopped down to the ground.

"Lu— how did you dodge my attack earlier? It was like you _knew_ it was coming" Shanks sat down in front of Luffy.

"What do you mean Shanks? You were suuuuuper slow that time. It was like you were moving in slow mo! I thought you held back to make me feel better" Luffy stared at Shanks with an indignant look. Shanks leaned back on his arms.

' _So he doesn't use it actively… but still, Observation Haki at 6? He must be some kind of fighting monster waiting to happen'_ Shanks smiled down at Luffy.

"Actually what you just did is a _very_ high level technique that even some people on _my_ crew don't know! I don't think you'll be able to use it freely till you're older but still it really is amazing" Luffy's eyes seemed to sparkle.

"You mean I have some super secret technique that makes people move in slow mo?! That's so cool!" Luffy began to vibrate. Shanks merely shook his head.

"No Luffy, that isn't exactly true" He positioned himself so he was more directly in front of Luffy "What you just did is you used Haki, or, more specifically Observation Haki. It's very complicated and a little above your skill level right now, but basically Haki is weaponized willpower" Luffy tilted his head in confusion.

"Weaponized? willpower? What does that mean?" Luffy turned his head back to Shanks.

"Ah. Okay, you know the feeling you have when you really want to do something? Like when you said you'd be the Pirate King yesterday? That is willpower. Basically it's your desire to accomplish your goals" Luffy nodded in understanding "Now to weaponize something means to turn it into a weapon. Like when that bandit hit me with that bottle" Luffy frowned "A bottle is no more of a weapon than the sake inside of it, but by using it to hit me he weaponized it— he turned it into a tool that is used to damage someone. You understand?" Luffy nodded.

"Yeah! Willpower is what I feel when I wanna do something really bad, and weapon-ize-ing is what happens when you attack someone. Right?" Shanks nodded to Luffy with a grin on his face.

"Correct enough, so Haki is 'weaponized willpower' meaning that you use the feeling of utter certainty in yourself. You can either use your 'will' to create a shield over your skin called Armament Haki. This allows you to hit people who you otherwise wouldn't be able to and to damage the physical bodies of those who have devil fruits" Luffy's eyes seemed to widen in understand, and Shanks smirked at him.

"So _that's_ why it hurts so much when you hit me! Mean Shanks! I can't believe you use some super secret technique just to smack me around!" Luffy huffed in anger and made to turn away from Shanks, but a hand stopped him.

"We aren't done yet Luffy, or don't you wanna know about _your_ mystery power?" Luffy immediately had his eyes on Shanks. _'Dahahaha! This kid is so predictable! He only cares about fighting, food, and his friends!_ Shanks smiled. "Observation Haki is the ability to sense someone else's will. When you use it you can tell about how strong someone is or where they are planning on going or even in some cases what they are thinking about. Basically it allows the user to see someone's intents before they do them so they can avoid an attack before it happens" Shanks looked Luffy directly in the eye. "That is what you just did. You somehow tapped into your Haki and used it to sense where my next attack was going to be and then responded accordingly" Luffy shook his head.

"No Shanks! I didn't predict your attack, I _saw y_ our attack happen!" Luffy feigned a slow punch forwards, and Shanks paled.

' _No way! He can see into the future already?! Not even I can do that… he really is some kind of monster'_ Shanks looked askance at Luffy who was miming punches at the air. _'If I can teach him a bit about Haki, then—'_ Shanks shook his head _'If he learned some Haki now then he'll be an absolute monster when he becomes a pirate'_ Shanks smirked.

"There's one more type of Haki called Conqueror's Haki, basically it's exerting your will over someone else's, but you can't learn this type, you either have it or you don't" Luffy nodded in understanding and looked at Shanks expectantly, "All right Luffy, now that I know you have this power your training has changed! From now on you'll do exactly what I say and by the time I'm done you will be more powerful than ever!" Shanks leapt to his feet and put his hands on his hips and laughed.

"Yes sir Shanks sir!" Luffy stood at attention immediately.

' _This ought to be interesting'_ Shanks smiled wickedly and walked over to a downed tree branch. Luffy looked at Shanks with confusion as he walked back towards Luffy with the stick in hand.

"Close your eyes and keep em closed. From now on you are gonna try and dodge this stick! Dahahaha!" Shanks watched Luffy shut his eyes and slammed the stick into the side of his head. Rather than his head snapping of into the distance, Luffy's head instead took the brunt of the blow, and Luffy felt it in his bones.

' _Ow! That hurt!'_ Luffy flinched away, but forced himself back into sitting position. He would do this and become strong!

"Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that with Armament Haki you can enhance weapons to make them stronger as well. In fact I'm doing it with this stick right now so you have more 'will' to sense. Prepare yourself Luffy!" Shanks swung and connected again, and Luffy scowled at the ground but kept his focus up. This would take a while.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **The Bar**

The atmosphere within the bar was boisterous and happy as the Red-Hair Pirates drank and celebrated with cheer. Despite the celebrations however, the fact was that nothing worth celebrating had even occurred that day. The pirate crew however put on their party hats and entered full-swing into celebrations regardless of their lack of accomplishments. Then Shanks entered the bar with Luffy in tow, and the pirates cheered.

They all noticed the various bruises on Luffy, "Yahaha! Captain you sure beat the shit out of the poor brat! What, did he insult your hair again? Yahahaha!" one inconspicuous pirate yelled out to the captain as he further entered the bar. As the words reached his ears Shanks chuckled to himself.

"Nope! Turns out, Luffy can use Haki! I just had to up his training after he decked me in my pretty face. Dahahaha!" Shanks sat himself down at the bar and grabbed a mug Makino had set for him. He lifted it in the air "To Luffy! May he always have a bruised face so I can be the prettiest one in the room! Dahaha!" His mug was joined by dozens more and he downed it in an instant and set it back down. Then someone sidled down next to him.

"Is it true Shanks? Can he actually use Haki at his age?" Benn Beckman looked over at Luffy who was being accosted by pirates. Shanks nodded.

"Yup, he sure surprised me! I threw a punch at his head and suddenly I have a fist in my face! I woulda been upset if I wasn't so damn surprised! Then he tells me he saw me do it in slow mo, just like that one guy in Big Mom's crew said he could do" Shanks drank another mug of booze and set the empty down for Makino.

"It is impressive that he can use it at such an age, but then again it isn't unheard of. You think he'll be able to use it on purpose soon?" Benn took a drink from his cup and gave his captain a look. He never got a response. As the encroaching sound of a certain bandit became known,

"I've come ta collect mah booze ya damned pirates! Where is my fair share?!" The door to the bar was kicked down, and Higuma waltzed through the hole it left, holding his sword over his shoulder. His gang of bandits flanked his sides.

Shanks sent a small smile their way and moved to hand Higuma a mug full of booze. "Dahaha! Lucky for you there is plenty of booze to go around this time!" He then turned and began to walk away.

Higuma glared at Shanks' back and scoffed "As if one mug is anywhere near enough! Get that bitch behind tha counter ta bring me and my boys a whole barrel. HAR!" Higuma settled down in the same seat he stole the last time and his men flocked to his sides.

Shanks stopped moving midstep, and the entire bar went quiet. "You really shouldn't say such things about my friends. I might be forced to _deal_ with you" Then the moment disappeared, and Shanks began to make his way behind the bar. Higuma lurched to his feet.

"Ya wanna go _again_ ya damn pirate? When you gonna learn that I am the strongest on this island, and that I am wanted for 8 million Beri?! You really gotta watch yer tongue before I cut it outta ya!" Higuma sucked in breath after breath, and a large barrel suddenly landed on the table in front of him.

"Drink up. Asshole" At some point Shanks had grabbed a barrel _and_ moved his way back to the table, but Higuma ignored his feat of speed to instead focus on Shanks' words.

"Asshole is it? I really do gotta teach ya a lesson. But since you don't seem ta care about yer own body, I'll hurt _his—_ " Higuma accentuated his sentence by lunging at the unsuspecting and tired Luffy and seizing him in his arms. Shanks and the entire bar went stiff, and Makino cried out.

"Ah, I see dis one is important to all of ya" At this he yanked a dagger from his belt and held it at Luffy's neck. No one moved "Then _this_ will be a good lesson NOT TO _FUCK_ WITH ME!" Higuma brought his dagger down across Luffy's left eye and left a long gash down his face that began to bleed all over.

Shanks bristled in rage, and the entire bar stood up. Then everything happened at once.

The moment the dagger cleared Luffy's face, he bit down hard on Higuma's hand and wriggled free from his grasp, falling limply to the floor. The goons Higuma had brought into the bar suddenly fell to the ground as they were hit by a wall of Shanks' raging Haki. Higuma brought his now injured hand to his eye level, and began to examine it when the cold barrel of a pistol made itself known by pressing into his temple. He gulped.

"I can accept people insulting me, or even hitting me. After all, I don't care all that much for violence" he stepped forwards "But, it's when scum like you insult and then hurt my friends that I am forced to act" Shanks took one more step forward, and Higuma immediately felt the world fall onto his shoulders, and his knees went weak, but yet he couldn't fall. "I can let a few words blow over pretty easily. After all, not all people are raised with good manners, but, when someone _dares_ to hurt the people I care about then they must face the consequences" Shanks took one more step towards Higuma who quaked in fear. "Your actions may have ruined this poor kids dreams… what am I to do with the man who could have ruined the future of one whom I hold dearly?" Shanks took one last step so that he came face to face with Higuma who was drenched in sweat.

"You pulled your knife on a kid— on a kid I like no less, and you tried to cut his eye out… you drew your weapon in full view of us, as if challenging us to respond" Shanks turned to look at his crew "Well respond we will. You put your life on the line when you brandish your weapons, so you must be ready to die for your actions. Roo, take him outside and deal with him, we shouldn't get more blood on the bar floor" Shanks turned to Luffy who smiled weakly up at him through one eye. Shanks sighed and pulled Luffy up into his grasp.

"Come on kid, let's get you all fixed up." Shanks pulled Luffy off the ground and supported him with his shoulder as he led him over to the ship doctor, and everyone cleared the way for him. Outside a gunshot was heard, and Roo entered the bar again. No one said anything more.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **March 27th, The Bar**

It had been a week since the fight at the bar, and everything had gone back to normal. Higuma's bounty paid for repairs on the bar and medical supplies for Luffy, and everyone was relieved to hear that no permanent physical damage was done to Luffy, other than scarring. So, everyone stood at the side of Luffy's bed as he began to unravel the bandages.

Luffy pulled the bandages from his left eye and everyone winced as they stuck to him somewhat, but with a mighty yank they fell off, and Luffy's bright Pink scar revealed itself. Over his left eye a single scar went from the middle of his forehead down to his cheek. The gathered people winced at the angry scar, but Luffy just smiled.

"Now I look just like Shanks! I always wanted a cool scar over my eye!" Luffy opened his left eye to reveal that true to the doctor's word, there was no damage to it, and the pirates around him breathed a sigh of relief. Shanks smiled at Luffy's comment, and stepped forward.

"I wanted to say sorry Lu, I almost got you more seriously hurt by not responding when I should have, and I understand if—"

"Stupid Shanks! You said yourself that fighting someone just because they said something mean makes you no better than the bully! You said to only fight if you had to, or your friends were in danger. You just did what you said was right!" Luffy turned away from Shanks' apology and instead focused on his reflection. "Man I look so manly with this scar! All the other kids will be super jealous!" Shanks hid a tear in his eye and instead pulled Luffy up into a quick hug, and when he released him, he turned a critical eye on Luffy.

"You said you look like me now Lu, and that means we gotta step up that training! I can't have my disciple look like me and be weak! It'll ruin my image. After we get back from our next voyage I'll show you just what it means to be strong, Ok?" Luffy nodded at Shanks, and the rest of the pirates smiled too, until Benn took a step forward.

"Now that we know you're better Luffy, we have to head out. We should be back by next month, so we will see you then" Benn began to pull Shanks away, and Luffy nodded his head at them.

"When you get back Shanks I'll be even stronger than I am now!" Luffy called out to Shanks who merely smirked.

"Dahaha! No doubt about it, after all it's easy to go from zero to one! DAHAHAHA!" Shanks turned tail and dashed towards his ship as Luffy began to rage.

"Shut up Stupid Shanks! I'm not zero YOU ARE!" Luffy thrashed about, but the townsfolk around him held him in place. _'_

 _Tch I'll show that dumb Shanks how good I am!'_ Luffy pulled free from the people holding him and ran off towards the woods to train.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **May 5th, Dawn Island**

Luffy frowned down at his hands. Today was his birthday, and he was now seven years old, but it also meant that Shanks was leaving, forever this time. They walked side by side down the street, and Shanks began to speak out.

"Don't worry Luffy, someday when you become a great pirate we can meet again, and then you can show me just how strong you are" Shanks patted Luffy on his head. "Besides, if you keep up on your training you'll be a monster in no time at all! After all you can almost use Haki on purpose!" Shanks kept moving ahead as Luffy trailed beside him.

"I'm gonna miss you guys Shanks… no one has ever been nice to me like you guys…" Tears filled Luffy's eyes and Shanks pointedly ignored it.

"We aren't leaving forever Lu, and besides you'll find people here you like just as much as us, I'm sure of it!" they arrived at the Red Force and Shanks stood in front of Luffy with his back turned.

"You sure you have to go? Cause you can stay if you aren't…" Luffy poked his fingers together. Shanks smiled sadly.

"Yeah, I'm sure. We stayed here too long and now the Navy is on our case" Shanks turned and stared Luffy in the eyes. "Besides, if I baby you forever you can't surpass me, can you?" Suddenly a fire lit in Luffy's eyes and he stared fiercely at Shanks.

"Alright Shanks. One day I'll be the strongest and greatest pirate of them all! The Pirate King! And I'll find you and beat you guys too! No one will stand in my way" Tears began to fall from Luffy's eyes, and Shanks' eyes softened.

"Yeah I believe it. If there's anyone who can surpass me, it's you" Shanks put his hand on his hat and pulled it from his head and settled it on Luffy's "This hat is very precious to me Luffy, I got it from my old captain long ago. He entrusted the next generation to me, and now I'm entrusting it to you! When you become the greatest pirate in the world, come and return the hat to me, and we can sit down and have a drink together as equals" Shanks patted Luffy's hatted head and turned and walked up the gangplank.

"I'll see you in the New World Luffy! I'll be waiting for you" Shanks turned to address his crew "All right you guys set sail!" Shanks turned again and immediately his crew set to work. Luffy's whole body shook in anticipation.

"I'LL BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES, SHANKS! WAIT FOR ME!" He bellowed, and then turned on his foot and sprinted his way towards the trees. He couldn't keep Shanks waiting too long. He had work to do.

 **AN:** I planned to update this next week, but I got hit by the writing bug so here it is.

Events happen differently, and things change forever. Shanks will have his arms now, and the whole world will be shook up because of it. Next time Luffy sets sail, and the world begins to change.


	4. Departure

Chapter 4: Departure

 **May 10th, Port of Dawn Island**

Small waves crashed onto the island and sent ripples of water back into the ocean. The docks that jutted forth from the island were jam packed with citizens and wanderers of Dawn Island, as well as merchants and visitors who came to the island to do trade with the illustrious Goa Kingdom. Further to the east sat a small and quaint village by the name of Foosha. Similar to Goa its docks were full of people and noise, but that is where the similarities end.

Those in the back of the crowd knew of, but could not see, a medium fishing boat kitted out with _very_ minimal supplies. The further forward someone went in the crowd, the clearer the picture came to be until at the very forefront of the amassed group stood two people, a man and a woman.

The man stood almost an entire torso shorter than every other man within sight, and the woman was not much taller, coming up to the chest of most men. The diminutive man was Woop Slap, the mayor of Foosha himself and an old codger to boot. The woman was a beautiful young lady named Makino, shorter than most with dark green hair framing her face. She had a bright smile on her face and everyone around her mimicked it reflexively.

Most of all the man on the boat.

Over the years, Luffy had grown taller and taller every year without ever seeming to stop. After he reached ten he stopped meeting people taller than, and after becoming a teenager he began to tower over even the tallest of normal people. Now at seventeen he stood at 3.12 meters in height. This came with its fair share of consequences and downsides. However, due to his devil fruit ability the gomu gomu no mi his unnaturally long body gave him an extra advantage: He could stretch much further than anyone else might have been able too. This meant that Luffy's attacks packed quite a bit of punch, as any beast on the island could attest to. Due to his incredible height and prodigious strength Luffy had gained a reputation around Dawn Island as some fighting monster who had no emotions and ate his opponents for lunch. This was the furthest thing from the truth.

Makino had after all instilled within Luffy a great many things, and chief among them was friendliness. In truth, it was easy as Luffy had a natural charisma to him. However in practice it became evident that in spite of his friendly attitude and kind heart his monstrous and strange body pushed away all hope of friends. At least until—

"Luffy! Don't shame our village anymore than you have already! If you become a pirate we won't ever be able to live it down!" Woop Slap's loud yelling echoed off the water right at Luffy's head. He shook away the echoes and turned to the mayor with a great big grin.

"Shishishi, if I don't become a pirate then I can't fulfill my promise to Shanks! Besides, being a pirate is about being free to do what you want, which means I don't have to listen to you old man!" Luffy pulled his eye down at Woop Slap and patted his butt at him. The mayor fumed in rage and took one purposeful step forward.

"Impertinent brat! I oughta finish what Garp started! Come here you damned brat—" Woop Slap moved forward again and was stopped by a man behind him. Makino moved in while she could.

"You're fine Lu! Go out there and find the captain and show him who's boss!" Makino fist pumped. She turned from Luffy and smiled down at the mayor who grumbled at himself.

As a government official Woop Slap was all but contractually obligated to hate pirates and other people prone to skulduggery. He made it clear over many years what his opinions were and how some people ought to act, but he was _mostly_ focused on Luffy over the years. Constantly he'd tell Luffy to 'give it up' and 'quit his foolish goal'. He failed to convince Luffy even a bit. However, even despite his comments he wished all the best for Luffy, and it showed on his face as he smiled serenely at Luffy's turned back. Even in spite of him heckling Luffy it was telling of his care for Luffy that Woop Slap had even _arrived_ to see him off. Like everyone else he cared about Luffy, because he had no parents around to do it themselves.

"Alright, I _will_ find Shanks, and I'll beat him too! My crew will be the strongest, and then I'll become the Pirate King!" Luffy pulled his right leg back and stretched it behind him and kicked it forward into the dock. The dock shook. People swore and began trying to leave. His boat had been untied previously, and before the kick he was several meters away from the dock. Luffy _pushed_ with all his might from his leg and his boat rocked forward out into open waters. He pulled his sail loose and turned to the gathered citizens of Foosha and waved goodbye. As Foosha left his sight he turned around and put his hand on his hat and pulled it down over the top of his eyes. He smiled, it was time to start!

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

The water seemed calmer than usual, almost like a forest after a wildfire had recently settled. Luffy's boat smoothly made its way through the water, cutting across the vast expanse and making its way towards Luffy's destination when a soft noise could be heard. A light thunk, the sound of wood on wood made its way into Luffy's ear, and he cast his glance downwards at the water. There, surrounding the boat seemed to be the wreckage of another vessel, and quite the recent wreck as well. As he scanned the surrounding waters Luffy saw the wreckage and took in their meaning. He had heard that there might be a storm coming, but he hadn't expected it to have any effect on _him_.

The wind pushed against his sail and it continued forward, until Luffy came across the bodies. Most were slightly waterlogged and still unbloated proving the recentness of their deaths. Luffy looked on solemnly. To die at sea was a terrible way to go as a pirate, and it showed here in the way it treated their bodies. Luffy walked over to the rigging and began to try and pull down his sail more so he could leave when he heard sloshing water. Normally, this meant nothing to a pirate, but after a wreck it _could mean_ a potential survivor. Luffy focused and his world turned somewhat gray until a blue dot appeared in his view not far from him. A survivor!

He turned his boat towards the person in the water, when Luffy noticed his bright pink hair.

' _Pink hair? What kind of person has pink hair?'_ Luffy's boat pulled alongside the man and slowed to a stop when Luffy saw it wasn't a man, but rather a boy. He seemed to have been lucky enough to float free from the wreckage and come above water face up. Luffy crouched by the side of the boat and stretched his arm to poke the man. The boy groaned.

' _Alright I'll wake him up 'Gramps style'_ Luffy reared his head back and held there for a moment then quickly shot forward right into the boys space.

"WAKE UP IDIOT! YOU FOOL, FALLING ASLEEP AT SEA?! AND IN THE WATER NO LESS!? WAKE UP!" Luffy's spittle flew and impacted the boy on the cheek the moment he started to speak, and it coincided with the boy suddenly thrashing himself awake. The boy paled and pushed his glasses up on his nose better.

"Oh— uh, hey there, uh who um, who are you? I'm, I'm Coby, I work on Al—" He stopped himself and tried to settle down his nerves. The wood he clings to is shaking from his nervousness as he looks around him at the wreckage, then the color comes back to his face, and he gulps. "—uh, nevermind that. Um, who did you say you are again? Sorry." Coby looked up at Luffy with undisguised fear in his eyes. Luffy grinned.

"I didn't say! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm a pirate!" Luffy leaned back and landed flat on his butt and leaned forward again, studying Coby. The boy in question paled _again_ and looked as though he wanted to run away.

"Oh! I uh, shoulda guessed at that huh? Heh heh. You see, I was stuck on a pirate ship up until—" he looked around at the wreckage, "—well, until this. The captain was Lady Alvida! A notorious and evil woman who was just awful!" Coby looked fearfully at luffy, "You, you aren't gonna force me into your service, are you? Cause I'd, I'd rather _die_ than do that again!" Coby seemed to find his courage and looked up at Luffy who simply smiled back down at him.

"Nah, I only want strong guys in my crew! Plus I don't even know what you wanna do yet" Luffy turned his eyes to Coby's and stared at him, "I told you I wanna be the Pirate King, so what do you wanna be?" Luffy leaned his head on his arms that were crossed over the edge. Coby lowers his head.

' _Can I really tell this guy what I wanna be? If I do he'll probably just beat me up and leave me to die! No I can't say!'_ Coby looks up at Luffy again and is about to speak when he lowers his head down. _'But if I can't even say to this guy what my dream is how can I ever fulfill it? No I have to say!'_ This time Coby turns his head up confidently at Luffy who is grinning bemusedly.

"I'm going to join the Marines and pursue my very own Justice! And one day, when I have become strong and good I'll be a Marine Admiral!" Coby's voice cracks several times but it is plain to see that he is passionate. Luffy levels him with a look and then smiles at him happily.

"I don't like the Marines, but I think you could be a good one! You should go for it Boby!" Luffy smiled at Coby again who looked somewhat distraught.

"Uh, could you please —if it isn't any trouble that is— let me come into your ship? It's getting pretty cold in here" He shivers, "Also, uh, my name isn't Boby, it's _Coby_ , with a C like cat" Luffy simply smiles at Coby and stretches out his hand to him. Coby recoils in shock. "Are you a devil fruit user? I thought those were fake!" Coby looked terrified and Luffy nods and shakes his hand at Coby. Coby grabs hold of it.

"Yup, I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi eleven years ago and have been a rubber man ever since" Luffy pulled Coby into the ship when he spotted a barrel floating in the water not far from them. He doesn't take more than a second to stretch his hand over to it and bring it back as well.

Coby stared blankly at Luffy's stretched hand and his gaze moved down to the rest of Luffy's body, then he paled _'This guys legs are longer than my whole body! Wait… it must be because of his devil fruit, after all he is stretchy. I won't say anything'_

Luffy cracked open the container and revealed a bunch of apples, then Coby became hungry. He grabbed the first apple he saw and ate it quickly and watched as Luffy literally eats the apple in a matter of seconds.

' _Wow, this guy has some crazy ability he must be able to— wait, what is that?'_ Coby set his apple to the side and reached into the barrel to pull out a bright blue apple with swirls on it. He brought it close to his head when a sound like a whip cracked out and the apple was no longer in his hand but was instead in Luffy's.

"What was that for? I was just looking, no need to steal my apple!" He cried out with indignity and looked at Luffy in subdued anger. That is, until Luffy looked at him seriously.

"This—" he held the fruit out, "—is a _devil fruit_. If you eat it you can _never_ swim again and you have to learn how to use it or die" Luffy is unnaturally serious, and even Coby can tell that he means business. "You can have it if you want, but know that you are stuck with it for life afterwards. Don't take this lightly" Luffy looked at Coby again and held the fruit out to him, but Coby shakes his head in the negative.

"Thanks for the warning Luffy-san, I don't know what I'd do with a devil fruit power out of the blue." Luffy nodded and pulled the sail down again and the boat started moving once more. "Where are we going Luffy-san? Or do we not have a destination?" Coby wouldn't say it out loud, but Luffy unsettled him immensely. He wanted to get out of his way, and soon.

"I don't know where we're going at all! I'm just following this compass south of here" He showed Coby the compass with the needle facing behind them, "I think it's better when you don't know where you're going before you go. Pirates are all about being free, and that means you don't have to know where you're going to end up because it doesn't matter!" Luffy laughed and began to hum to himself. Coby balked and leaned back into himself.

' _He is totally crazy! One minute he's super serious and now he's back to fun and games?! I gotta get out of here, and soon!'_ He nods to himself and leans forward, only to feel incredibly tired the next moment ' _on second thought, I'm gonna take a nap. Hopefully he doesn't kill me'_ He shut his eyes and drifted off to the sound of Luffy's humming

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

Over the next day or so, Coby filled in his free time with naps and rests while simultaneously watching Luffy carefully. It was on either his seventh or eighth nap that Luffy shook him awake.

"Coby! Look there's an island up ahead. See over there! That's where we are headed" Luffy grinned brightly and reached over Coby to grab an oar. Coby barely had time to wipe the sleep from his eyes before the ship lurched forward quickly and took up a lightning pace towards the shore. He turns and quickly Identifies the source as Luffy, rowing with enough force to send them flying through the water and air

"AHHHH! Luffy-san, if you ground the boat you won't have one when you leave the island! Be careful! Luffy-san!" Coby screamed to himself and gripped the edge of the boat tightly. Then suddenly the boat lurched again in the opposite direction, and the entire boat went still. Coby opened his eyes to see that the boat was parallel to the coast and Luffy had already stepped out of the boat and was tying it up. Coby was gobsmacked. "Luffy-san, how did you stop the boat? It was going so fast before" He looked at Luffy only to see his attention was focused elsewhere.

"Coby! Come on there's someone over that way—" He points to his left, "—and it seems like they need some help. Let's go!" Luffy jumps up from hi position on the ground and bounds over the grass and into the trees. Coby sighed to himself and stood up and began to follow behind Luffy.

' _Hopefully he doesn't get us killed'_

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

As Luffy ran forward the open sky began to bleed away and treetops began to take its place. Twigs crunched under his sandals and every few steps he'd move his head away from a hanging branch poised to smack him in the face. Then he stopped abruptly and looked to his left, then he looked to his right, and then he looked left again and closed his eyes. Suddenly Luffy's surroundings drained of color and specs of blue began to pop up everywhere within a certain radius surrounding Luffy. The presences of the animals he quickly passed over, but when he zeroed in on a decidedly _human_ presence he snapped his eyes open and the world flashed back into color view.

' _I thought I heard someone. They seem weak, I'll go see if I can help'_ He began to walk towards the presence he felt earlier with purpose. Around him, various animals and creatures that lived in the forest began to observe him. With a certain level of inborn Observation Haki, animals could sense when someone or _something_ was stronger than them, and Luffy gave off the feeling of one who dwarfed them all. As Luffy began to push through the brush again the animals got out of his way and simply observed.

Then he saw her. On the ground surrounded by berries lay a little girl no older than ten, and on her back he could see a small cut from the tree. Luffy pieced together the injury easily using his own personal experiences, and took a cursory glance at the tree to confirm his answer.

' _Yep, she was trying to get some of those fruits on the top branches when one of them snapped under her and she fell.'_ he crouched down and pushed the fabric of her shirt aside from the wound. ' _This is shallow, she must have passed out because she was scared of the fall'_ Luffy took off his vest and laid it on the ground a little behind the girl and then, carefully, he reached underneath her and flipped her onto her back. ' _She didn't hit her face at all when she fell, She must have turned because her back hurt'_ He looked down at her and tapped her lightly on the face.

"Hey! You've gotta wake up so I can carry you home! Little girl, where is your house?" He continued poking her cheek and tapping her head, and eventually she stirred.

"Huh? Who are you mister? My back hurts… Oh! I fell off the tree! Momma said not to climb the tall ones, but I did, and then I fell, and now my back—" She continued on for a moment until Luffy held up a finger.

"Shhhh. I'm gonna carry you home, okay little girl? Just tell me where to go, alright?" Luffy turned and offered his back to her, and she readily stood back up and hopped on him. Luffy began to stand up.

"Okay! Thanks mister! You're _really_ tall, huh? My name is Rika! My Momma has a bar in the town and that's where she is today. How tall are you? I've never seen someone as tall as you! Oh! Mister, can you help me with something? I know this guy and—"

"Shishishi! You really have a lot to say huh? Alright let's head to the bar first and then I'll see what I can do to help you, okay? First thought we need to find— Oh, Colly! We're over here! I found this girl and I'm gonna take her to her mom! Let's go!" Luffy turned his head rapidly away from Coby and began to march his way to the town on Rika's directions. Coby sighed.

"My name is Coby, Luffy-san… Ah! Wait for me Luffy-san!" Coby quickly ran up to Luffy and began to walk by his side through the forest. The crunch of leaves and twigs beneath them the only sounds other than Rika's directions and nonsensical chattering from her and Luffy. Coby sighed and followed along.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

Luffy, Rika, and Coby quickly made their ways through the forest and into the town. As they passed several groups of civilians their eyes fell on Luffy and followed him. A man as tall as him might as well be some kind of monster. They quickly passed through the town, and as the bar came into sight Rika slipped down from Luffy's back and sprinted the rest of the distance. Luffy and Coby followed after her a bit slower.

"—and then he showed up out of _nowhere_ and was all like" Rika scrunched her face into an approximation of Luffy's, "Hey little girl! You need some help?' and then he gave me a piggyback ride all the way here! He is super tall too! I was as tall as a tree! Isn't that cool mom? Isn't it— Hey! There he is! Mom, look its the guy from earlier! Hi Mister!" Rika bounced up and down next to her mother who smiled warmly at the two of them after a moment of shock from Luffy.

"Oh! I hear you helped out my daughter. Thank you mister—" She trailed off looking at Luffy and Rika. Rika looked confused and then embarrassed, and Luffy laughed.

"Shishishi! She talked so much and didn't even ask my name! How funny! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm a pirate!" Luffy proclaimed himself loudly, and the people who had been staring at Luffy flinched away. Luffy easily ignored it, but Coby didn't. "Anyways, She said she needed some more help, too, so I came to help! Also is there a Marine base here?" Both Coby and Luffy noticed that the people flinched even _worse_ at the mention of the Marines, and Coby looked confused.

"Oh, did she really? She can be a bit inconsiderate sometimes. Well to answer your question, yes there is, and that's what she wants help for" Ririka stared down at Rika, "You see, the son of the Captain of the base thinks that he's above the law, and comes into town demanding goods and services for free. Anyways, last time he was here, he brought in a wolf of all things! It almost bit little Rika here, but a man named Roronoa Zoro intervened and killed the wolf" Coby paled considerably, and Luffy seemed to brighten, "He's a famous bounty hunter, and Helmeppo— the Captain's son— knew that he could gain some fame for killing him, so he had him imprisoned." Ririka took a breath. "However, it doesn't end there. He said that if Zoro-san could survive thirty days and nights without food or water then he'd be set free. It's been three weeks now and he's still there, but Rika and I are worried he'll die anyways before he can be executed" Rika jumped in at this point.

"I went to fed him some of my special onigiris, but I was caught and thrown out! So I want you to go and give him food for me since you are big and strong and can't be thrown out! Please Luffy-san?" Rika looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Luffy just grinned.

"I'd do it even if you didn't ask! Zoro huh? He sounds strong _and_ interesting, I'm gonna ask him to join my crew!" Luffy walked over to Rika. "I'll go deliver him some food right now, you got any?" He held out his hand and Rika beamed at him and dashed into the kitchen. Moments later she came out with a small package.

"Here you go! Make sure he eats them, ok? I'm coming with, but I can't go inside so you have to do it for me!" She ran over and grabbed a coat and then walked out the door.

"Sorry about her, she can be a bit much, but she really is a kind girl" Ririka smiled after her, "Thank you for doing this, he really is our savior, and I feel awful that he has to starve" She smiled at Luffy who walked out the door. Coby followed behind.

"Hey Luffy-san, did you see the way those guys in there reacted to the word Marine? Why would the Marines scare civilians? They're the good guys, right?" Coby looked up at Luffy who frowned heavily.

"If you go into the world thinking everything is black and white you are more blind than a bat. There are good pirates and bad marines. Not everyone falls into one category" Luffy turned a glare on Coby who shrunk back "You better remember this if you wanna be a Marine one day: Nothing is ever all good or all bad, and no one is good or bad based on the clothes they wear" Luffy turned away and stalked off angrily, and Coby just stood stalk still.

' _If its Luffy-san saying it, it can't be 100% wrong. Which means that these guys are scared of the Marines for real! But why?'_ Coby moved forward, stuck in his thoughts.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

"Hey _Oh Great Pirate Hunter Zoro-sama_ how are you doing today? You hungry? Or maybe you're thirsty? You are getting so close to your release date so you better not die beforehand, got it?" A haughty young blond man stood hunched over with his face directly in Zoro's. His spit flew and hit Zoro in the face when he spoke, but Zoro was too busy focusing on his goal.

' _If can survive another ten days he'll let me go, and that girl will be safe. Man I'm hungry and thirsty though! I could just break out of here and kill everyone at the base, but no! no , I can't! I gave my word that I'd wait it out and so I will! A man can only rely on two things, his Word and his Sw—'_

As Zoro spoke to himself, Luffy arrived on the scene, looked at the barrier wall and then stretched his leg over the top of it and simply stepped over it. Helmeppo saw the whole thing, and promptly became terrified.

"WHAT?! HE JUST STEPPED OVER THE WALL! HOW TALL IS THIS GUY?!" he turned to one of the men at his side and grabbed him by the shoulders, "Shoot him! Only monsters are that tall, so it'll be okay!" The man turned and shot once at Luffy, but the bullet flew into Luffy's skin and all the way through and then with a push forward, Luffy sent the bullet flying back at the man holding the gun and hitting him in the shin, knocking him down instantly.

Helmeppo panicked and ran away with his other guard in tow.

Luffy moved up towards Zoro."You're strong" It wasn't a question, but Zoro felt compelled to answer anyways. He leaned forward a bit and opened his eyes to look up at Luffy. He was obviously surprised at Luffy's height, but didn't say as much.

"Yeah, one of the strongest in East Blue, I think. I haven't met anyone stronger than me yet" Zoro let his neck fall down again, and stared at his own legs.

"Then why don't you break out and beat these guys? You definitely could" Luffy sat down in front of Zoro, and set the onigiri in front of him. Zoro's eyes remained closed.

"I gave the Bowl-Head my word, and—"

"Nothing is more important than a man's word" Luffy stared at Zoro's sunken face that even still radiated strength, and he decided all at once. Meanwhile Zoro's eyes snapped open and he too began to study the man before him, "I want you to join my pirate crew, so I'm gonna wait here in town until you're released" Zoro narrowed his eyes and looked shocked at Luffy "So I want you to give me your word that you won't die or leave town before I can convince you! Shishishi!" Zoro shook his head, but smiled slightly.

"Alright, I give you my word, I won't die." Zoro stared at the container that was now in Luffy's hands. He salivated, and then turned his head away, "is that more food? I told that girl that I won't eat until I've lasted thirty days! Tell her—" Suddenly a girl appeared over the fence, and ran at Zoro.

"Please eat sir! If you starved I'd be really sad!" She began to tear up, and Zoro looked at her emptily before shaking his head.

"I gave him my word, and I _don't_ take that lightly. Come back in ten days, and I'll eat your onigiri" Rika's eyes wobbled with tears, but she didn't move.

Suddenly the doors to the base broke open, and the blond boy came out followed by thirty men, all armed. They stared at Luffy and Zoro, and paled when they realized Luffy was as tall as Zoro sitting down. Luffy and Zoro frowned. The boy took a step forward.

"Hello, Monster! I am Helmeppo, son of Captain Morgan himself! You, and that girl, are trespassing and for that the punishment is death! Prepare yourselves!" Helmeppo gestured and guns on the other side of the yard came to attention. Luffy stood in front of Rika.

"Don't move or you'll get hurt, understand?" She nodded, and then the bullets came. One by one they impacted against Luffy, but rather than pierce him they flew into his body and continued on until he flexed outwards and sent them all back. The men took several shots and immediately dropped their guns and drew swords. They didn't get the chance to do much of anything.

The moment they all dropped their guns, Luffy dashed forwards and buried a fist in one marine's gut. A mere moment later he had dropped three more in a similar manner, and by then they had lost all cohesion. Luffy punched all the men to the ground and made to glare at Helmeppo, only to find he was gone.

"If you come any closer, I'll shoot his head off!" on the other side of the yard stood Helmeppo with a gun to Coby's head who had at some point entered the yard. Coby gulped and looked at Luffy.

"Do you trust me Coby?" Coby nodded. Before Helmeppo could even speak Luffy was in front of him, and he grabbed Helmeppo by the front of his face and slammed him into the ground. Helmeppo growled.

"You fool! Now my father will come and kill you! And all for what? A starving man who I was gonna execute tomorrow for fun? HA! Stupid fool! You'll see why I am feared like my father is—" He was slammed into the ground by an angry Luffy. He turned to Zoro who looked equally as upset, and for a moment they looked at each other and then Luffy smiled.

"Looks like your schedule is all cleared up! Now I'm sure I can cut these ropes with one of these swords, and then you can join my crew! Shishishi!" Luffy turned and began to move to the fallen men.

"Wait! I never said I'd join your crew! I have an ambition of my own to fulfill! I'm going to be the strongest swordsman in the world!" Zoro yelled at Luffy who stopped short and turned.

He smiled "I'm going to be the Pirate King! So anything less than the strongest wouldn't be good enough for me!" Luffy reached down to grab a sword, but Zoro yelled out to him again.

"Wait! I have a sword that is in that base over there" Zoro nodded his head at the base, "you can cut me down, but I won't fight unless I have my sword back" Luffy nodded and began to run at the marine base.

' _He is strong. I was just telling him earlier that I'd never seen anyone stronger than me, but I think he might be'_ Zoro shook his head to clear his thoughts

"Hey! Girl! I can eat those onigiri now, and I am hungry!" his yell was answered by running and suddenly his mouth was full of rice. It was sweet, and tasted strange, but to Zoro it was the best food he'd ever eaten. "Thank you, now get out of here. I think we are gonna fight some more, and I don't want you to get caught in it" He looked at Coby "You too, you will just get in the way!" Coby looked down at his feet. But didn't move. "Hey! I said—"

"—I won't leave! I need to see if Luffy-san was telling the truth about the world! Are there good pirates and bad Marines? I need to see. If I get hurt then, then so be it!" Coby looked at Zoro and ran over to the fence to sit and watch. Zoro tsked.

Then out of the blue a loud BANG followed by and even louder CRACK came, and Zoro looked up at the statue that had been being erected on top of the tower only to see rubble and Luffy flying at him sword in hand.

"Oi! Zoro, I found your sword!" He threw it down at Zoro who caught it in his bound left hand. Then he flicked the blade out and cut the ropes away instantly. Zoro smirked.

"I see you've started a fight. Wanna test my combat abilities, is that it?" Zoro set Wado Ichimonji in his mouth and grabbed two fallen katanas in his hands. "I use the Santoryu or the Three-Sword Style" Zoro turned to the building where a small group of marines came flooding out. He held his two swords horizontally over his left shoulder "Watch, this is how I fight— Santoryu: 36 Pound Cannon!" He swung down in a circular motion, and launched a compressed slash in the form of a circle from the blades. It flew through the air and into the marines and then threw the marines and into the base. Zoro smirked.

"Awesome! Shishishi, I have a powerful swordsman on my crew already! Let me show you how _I_ fight now!" Zoro made to yell that he wasn't in his crew yet, but Luffy turned still midair and his right leg flew behind him as he did. It extended incredibly far out passing even the perimeter wall and then Luffy pulled it forwards with a great yell of "Gomu Gomu no Whip!" His foot sailed through the air perpendicular to the ground, and it smashed into the chests of the groups of marines who were falling with Luffy. The moment his attack landed the all went flying, and Luffy flipped and landed on his feet.

' _I knew it! This guy is super strong… He might be able to help me achieve my dream. Maybe joining him wouldn't be so bad if he's already this strong'_ Zoro held his swords in front of him as more marines filed out of the base, and then a great lumbering man with an axe instead of a hand came through the door as well and all was silent.

"Do you know who I am? I am the Great Captain 'Axe-Hand' Morgan! And that statue you destroyed was of ME! Destroying Marine property is punishable by death! I'll kill you with my famous Axe-hand!" The soldiers around him gasped, most staring at the monstrous form of Luffy and Zoro surrounded by their fallen comrades, and Morgan lunged forward at Luffy.

"Zoro, take care of those other guys!" Luffy launched himself at Morgan as well and they met midair. Zoro clucked his tongue in annoyance.

"So he gets to fight the strong one and I'm left with these… goons? Tch, I better have a good fight next time" Zoro ran forward and began to slash at the marines who could do nothing to stop him, not noticing that in his mind he had already accepted Luffy as his captain. In his periphery he saw Morgan try to slash Luffy, but simply fall flat on his face instead when Luffy wasn't standing in the same spot anymore. He then received a swift kick to the back and yelled in rage.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Morgan lashed out at Luffy again and hit air once more, and for his troubles he received a punch to the face. Morgan turned and swiped at Luffy again and again and again, but he only hit air every time.

Then, Luffy tired of him. He threw his arm behind him and it flew through the air quickly then stopped and flew back towards Morgan "Gomu Gomu no…" Morgan couldn't react in time and received the blow directly to his chest, "Pistol!" The moment the fist hit him he flew forward and hit the base with a loud thunk and passed out. Luffy turned to Zoro who was surrounded by men with shallow cuts across their bodies. Zoro nodded at Luffy.

' _He doesn't just kill everyone either. He's good'_ Luffy walked over to him, smiled and then began to speak to him.

"So, what do you think? Am I strong enough to be you captain Zoro?" Luffy looked confidently at Zoro who simply smirked.

"Alright, I'll follow you, but don't forget, I have an ambition of my own and if you get in my way or stop me from fulfilling it, I'll have you answer for it on the end of my sword, you hear?!"

Zoro stared at Luffy who nodded easily.

"I'd expect nothing less from the future number one swordsman, let's go" Luffy turned and walked through the gate followed immediately by Zoro. Coby sat and stared at the scene before him.

' _That Captain, he definitely wasn't good. Luffy-san was right!'_ Coby then stood up and followed Luffy out as well.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

The bar was full of boisterous men and women who cheered their new saviors, and Luffy was living it up. Never in his life had he had so many people ignore his height and just celebrate him. Drinks flowed and food followed, and Luffy and Zoro ate and drank more than enough for a small army. Then the Marines walked in and the bar went quiet.

"Is 'Monkey D. Luffy here? I need to speak with him" The one in charge called out pretending he didn't see the only person in East Blue tall enough to fit the bill. The bar didn't respond, but Luffy stepped forward anyways.

"That's me" Luffy munched on a piece of meat and the Marine regarded him for a moment and nodded.

"We are all thankful that you rid us of Morgan, but by your own admission, you are a pirate. You cannot stay here. You must leave tonight, and take your crew with you" The man gestured at Zoro, and Coby who paled in response. The entire bar grumbled. But Luffy just nodded.

"Okay, can do. Oh but wait" he pushed Coby forward "He wants to join the Marines even though he's super weak and useless" Luffy nodded to himself, "Honestly I'm offended you even thought he was _on_ my crew. Sure, someone else's, but mine? No, he was with A—" A punch slammed into Luffy's head from an angry Coby who had tears in his eyes.

' _I trusted him! And he's just gonna tell this random guy all about me?! I knew pirates were—'_ Coby turned to punch Luffy more, but was interrupted by the marine.

"Alright! Enough. It's clear he isn't with you, so we'll take him on as a chore boy. You have to leave though" He turned to leave, and Coby was left dumbstruck, he _had_ been helping! "You coming boy?" The commander called after him, and Coby bowed deeply at Luffy and Zoro then left.

"Well Captain, looks like we've gotta set sail now" He and Luffy stood up and waved goodbye to the people in the bar and left. "I was wondering, how many people are even on your crew?" Zoro looked at Luffy who smiled widely.

"Two! Me and You, isn't this exciting! Where are we gonna go next I wonder?" Luffy walked ahead of Zoro who shook his head and followed closely behind. To their left Zoro saw the same group of marines bow at them and then turn on their heels and head back.

The town bled away to grass again, and Zoro laid eyes on their vessel: A fishing boat. He laughed to himself and got in after his tall Straw-Hatted captain and when the boat pushed out into the water he smiled at himself.

' _Kuina, I think he might be the man who helps me attain our dream! Watch me do it!'_ He turned to Luffy and began to ask him about his dream, and they spent the next few hours trading stories and jokes back and forth.

 **AN:** Not much changes Canon wise, but Zoro and Luffy will be closer because they have similar creeds. Next time we meet Nami and Buggy, and things change forever.

 **AN2:** So a Guest left a review that I thought was a fair point. They said something along the lines of 'I didn't put enough thought into how the people reacted to Luffy and Zoro joined too easily' On my re-readthrough I agree so I changed some stuff up. Nothing too plot important, but just some minor tweaks to civilians and Zoro. Thanks Guest-person


	5. Commander

Chapter 5: Commander

 **Open Sea, East Blue**

The small fishing boat slowly made its way through the water pushed by only one small sail. However, despite the slow going progress, the inhabitants of the boat were anything but bored. As two newly met crew mates they had a _lot_ of ground to cover, and if they were to spend the foreseeable future together on the same boat, they ought to get to know one another. So that's what they did.

"—So that's the reason I want to be the best swordsman in the world. If I can't fulfill the dream Kuina and I shared, then I have no right to wield her sword or use the techniques her father taught me" Zoro finished with a huff and stiffened his back. It was the first time someone had _wanted_ to hear _why_ he wanted to be the best, and if this man was to be his captain, and friend, then he ought to know his purposes. It felt _weird_ to tell someone else, but strangely he felt Luffy was someone he could trust. Luffy nodded to himself, and the boat continued to rock side to side.

"It's a good reason. Wanting to fulfill your friends dream for their sake is as good a reason to do something as any" Here Luffy smiled at Zoro, "And besides, the extra motivation is what makes you all that much stronger than some other guy! Shishishi, I knew I picked right when I saw you!" Luffy laughed to himself, "But it makes me wonder if I would have wanted her over you if she were here, shishishi" Luffy smirked at Zoro and looked over the sea at something Zoro couldn't see.

Zoro flushed and glared half-heartedly at Luffy, and then quickly sobered, "Actually Luffy, I have a question" Zoro leaned forward some, and looked right at Luffy, "How is it that you are so tall? I mean I've fought some men who are over two meters before, but you are even _taller_ than that! Do you know anyone as tall as you?" Zoro finished by giving Luffy a searching look. It was the most _he'd_ ever shared with someone, and he expected Luffy was much the same.

Luffy didn't respond for a moment, and Zoro thought that he simply wouldn't, but then he did, "I don't know. I've never met my Mom or Dad I don't think, but my Gramps isn't as tall as me, so maybe I'm the only one" Luffy looked to be in consideration for a moment, "And I've never met someone as tall as me, but I only ever lived in one place anyways" Luffy shrugged at Zoro. "If I ever find out I'm sure you will too, but it doesn't matter to me. I don't need to meet my Mom or Dad, I only want to be the Pirate King, defeat Shanks, and fix some mistakes" Luffy clenched his fist and thumbed the rim of his hat.

"About that, why do _you_ want to be the Pirate King? And who is Shanks? And what's with the hat? Also what do you mean 'fix some mistakes'?" Zoro looked at Luffy who seemed somewhat guarded, and almost took his questions back, but Luffy just deflated.

"Fair's fair. You told me your reasons and goals, so I'll tell you about mine" Luffy looked at his hand, and then back at Zoro. "About Shanks, and this hat, well, when I was six years old—" And Luffy told his tale. About Shanks and what he taught Luffy. About the promise they made when Shanks left, and about the hat and the meaning behind it. And just as Luffy did earlier, Zoro listened on with interest. This was the man to whom he had sworn his sword, and he needed to know just _what_ kind of man he was. Luffy slowly finished the part about Shanks and stared at the sea again for a moment before the spotted an island and turned back to Zoro.

"There is more about the other stuff, but it'll have to wait because there's an island up ahead" Luffy pointed behind Zoro, and lo and behold there in the distance sat a small island.

"Okay Captain. We can share some more stories about the past over some booze after we finish up here. After all, I need two more swords and we need some more supplies" Zoro strapped his Wado to his side and looked down at the dismal amount of food they had left. He stood up and began to pull in the sails while Luffy grabbed two oars from the side of the boat, dunked them in the water, and began to row the boat to the shore. "Oh! Hey Captain?" Zoro turned to address Luffy while he pulled down the sails.

"What? Is there something in the water?" Luffy had his back to Zoro and was slowly rowing backwards.

"No, I was just wondering, does this 'Shanks' guy you were talking about have anything to do with the Yonko 'Red-Haired Shanks?'" Zoro had finished pulling in the sails and sat down behind Luffy, "It isn't a very common name, so I just thought—"

"Yup! That's him! He's became super strong over the last ten years, so I can't wait to fight him! Shishishi!" Luffy shook a little from laughter but continued rowing, and Zoro looked like something important had just been answered.

' _No wonder he's as strong as he is! If a Yonko took the time to train him as a kid he really would have to be a monster!'_ Zoro look at Luffy's back and then turned to see the island coming closer into view. _'Though why a Yonko would train him is completely unknown, whatever, not like it matter anyways, one day we'll have to face the Yonko, so I have to get stronger too!'_

As the shore came into closer view Zoro tapped Luffy on the shoulder, and the boat slowed down to a crawl. Zoro hopped from the boat and began to pull it into shore, and Luffy stretched his arm and grabbed something, only to suddenly appeared on the sand behind him. Zoro grumbled but Luffy smiled widely. The moment the boat landed on the sand Zoro turned and began to walk inland with Luffy.

The beach quickly blended into forest, and Zoro found himself walking through batches of trees and uncut weeds and bushes. Signs of a lifeless island if ever there was one. He turned to his captain. "Luffy, I don't think there's anyone on this island" But Luffy stared ahead at a small path in the forest. A sign of life. Zoro smirked and began to move that way the moment Luffy did.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

Nami _may_ have made a miscalculation in coming to this particular island. How was she to know that the notorious Buggy the Clown was making it into his pirate base? More importantly there was the fact that with no other inhabitants there was no way to distract the pirates and sneak into their base to steal their money. So now she was stuck. If she made a move she was sure to be killed and if she _didn't_ than it was a waste of time, and time was something Cocoyashi did _not_ have to spare.

' _Damn! If only there were some more people around, but he just_ _ **had**_ _to pick the only uninhabited island within a hundred leagues of here! Tch! I'll just have to use my charm to escape if I get caught that should—'_ Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud stomping that came from two people who had no fear of the danger ahead whatsoever. Nami quickly hid, no one that confident on a pirate's base was someone she wanted to speak to when she was trying to steal. She crouched inside a bush, and looked toward the origin of the noise, only to find that it had seemingly stopped.

"See, Zoro! This island isn't uninhabited! Look there's a girl right here!" Behind her a voice sounded out and her soul jumped from her body. Gen-san had told her horror stories of what happened to little girls who ran off into the woods alone, and now _she_ wasthe little girl. Nami jumped to her feet quickly and whipped the pieces of her staff together and pointed the staff at the face of the man behind her, except it wasn't his face but was instead his chest. Then Nami looked up and with a fright she realized this guy was taller than _Arlong!_ She screamed.

"AHHH! A MONSTER! Who— Who are you and what do you want! I— I don't have anything to give you!" She tried to hide the shaking of her body, but the way the staff vibrated gave her away. The monster behind her smiled warmly, but she only tensed more.

"Ah, I don't want anything from you! I was just wondering if you could point me to the nearest town?" When she didn't react he frowned, but not at her, "Zoro, it's fine, you can lower your sword, she won't hurt me" The serious tone in his voice made Nami shiver, but the sound of a blade sliding into its sheath was so much worse. She chanced a glance and behind her stood a severe looking man with _green hair_ that anyone in East Blue would recognize. The Pirate Hunter Zoro.

' _Why is the Pirate Hunter here? Is he here for Buggy like me? Maybe— maybe we can help each other then. I don't think the big one will hurt me, so it should be okay'_ Nami lowered her staff and turned to look at Zoro, when the words of the man behind her ringed in her ears. _'Did he order the Pirate Hunter? Then he's the boss, right? He's certainly scary enough'_ She turned _again_ and looked up at Luffy this time. She coughed into her hand.

"There isn't anyone who lives on this island, but it is the base of some pirates" Luffy and Zoro shared a look over her shoulder. Nami pushed on, nonplussed. "I'm here to steal a map so I can make some money in the Grand Line, I assume you guys are here for the bounty on Buggy's head?" She ignored Zoro and instead looked at Luffy here. Luffy smiled.

"Nope! We just need some supplies and crew mates so we can go to the Grand Line ourselves! So, you say you'll be going there too— are you a navigator by any chance? We could really use one on our crew!" Zoro looked annoyed at Luffy, but begrudgingly nodded his assent. Nami suddenly looked relieved.

"So that means we could partner up! I'm the best navigator around, and you guys seem plenty strong! What say we split the treasure fifty-fifty from Buggy and then we can head to the Grand Line for a while?" Nami looked up at them with false innocence, when under the surface she was already scheming to backstab them. However, she couldn't hide the one thing that kept poppng up— the giant of a man was terrifying.

"Wait" Zoro took a step forward and in front of Luffy and stared her down. Nami gulped and looked fearfully on. She was somewhat sure the one with the hat meant no harm, but this one was like a chained beast. "Captain, we shouldn't partner with someone we don't even know. She could be someone bad" Nami froze.

' _Has he seen through me? No way, I'm a great actor! And what's this about Captain— don't tell me they're pirates!?'_ Nami moved to speak, but was beat to it.

"Shishishi, Zoro I didn't know you were this cautious! Don't worry, even if she is a bad guy I can handle it. Besides, I don't think she is, she just wants the money, not anyone's life, Right?"

He looked at Nami and she nodded quickly, ignoring Zoro. Luffy beamed. "Great! Well let's introduce ourselves, I am Monkey D. Luffy, I'm a pirate!" Nami stiffened, but put up a wooden smile.

"Zoro, I'm also pirate" He glared at her, and she felt some measure of fear, but quickly leapt on the opening.

"I'm Nami, I like to adventure in the seas and make money" It was partly a lie, but she hoped they didn't know that. Luffy looked askance at Zoro, but smiled all the same.

"Alright! Welcome to my crew Nami! You can be the navigator on our ship!" Luffy loudly proclaimed. Nami grit her teeth.

"No way! I hate pirates!" She paled at the slp of her tongue but pushed on, after taking a backwards step, "I'm only helping you guys because I need the money, okay? So don't get any ideas!" She huffed and turned on her foot and pointed over to a small ridge. "Down there is where the Buggy pirates are, You guys go beat them up and I'll get the map and some money. Okay?" They nodded and she turned and stomped off.

"Captain—" Zoro turned to Luffy.

"I know Zoro, she isn't being honest, but that's fine. If she wants to tell us what's wrong then she can. Until then let's just assume she means well, okay?" Luffy smiled softly at Zoro who nodded, and they walked over to the ridge and prepared to go.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

For Buggy, life was good. By chance, he and his crew had miraculously stumbled across the _perfect_ location for a pirate base. To make things better, this had occurred after a lucrative haul and many incredibly one-sided battles with merchant vessels. In short, the Buggy Pirates had money to _burn._ In addition, Buggy's reputation had undergone a large upswing, and he had recruits out his nose looking to join up. He had it all, money, fame, or infamy depending on the source, and he had a safe location where no one would look for him. Again, life was good.

Off to the side, his first mate Mohji and his Chief of Staff Cabaji were coordinating the landing efforts. The Buggy Pirates had recently finished another set of raids, and the money and goods needed to be sorted and inventoried. Buggy was anything but lax when it came to money.

"Oi! Mohji, Cabaji! How much did we make last time? One million or two? Gyahahaha!" Buggy sat upon what could only be called a throne. It had originally been a large ornate chair that was being sold to some kingdom's nobles, but the ship carrying it had _happened_ upon some bad luck. Truly too bad, it was a comfortable chair. Mohji nodded in acknowledgement to his captain and took a look at the sheet of paper he was holding.

"Well captain, I can't say for sure, but it looks like we got over four million beri this time! After we resell the stuff we stole we should have nearly _seven_ million beri to add to the treasury!" As he spoke, Mohji moved towards Buggy and handed him the sheet. Buggy took it, glanced at it, and passed it back before nodding and promptly laughing loudly.

"Gyahahaha! Even better than expected! At this rate we'll be able to afford to set up our own flashy pirate town just like that Warlord Doflamingo! Gyahahaha! Put the money away, and afterwards we can throw a flashy party!" Buggy threw his hands up in the air, and they actually flew high into the sky. His crew cheered and laughed with one another, and set about to get things ready for a party. Buggy sighed and leaned into his chair. Life was good.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

Nami slinked her way through the guards who had been posted on the outskirts of their camp. She moved silently across the grounds that made up the Buggy Pirates' headquarters, and moved towards the ship that was docked in the bay. She once again snuck by an inattentive guard, and made it onto the catwalk that led to the treasury. Idly, she scratched her shoulder and then turned and signaled the others by flashing a gold coin in the sun at their general location. She didn't have time to see if they got the signal, and so instead hoped they were on the move. She snuck quickly behind yet another guard and into the treasury, and began to rifle through Buggy's things.

' _Too easy, these big name pirates get so cocky and just assume no one will steal from them'_ She opened a small chest full of beri notes stacked upon one another. She didn't even hesitate to snatch them, and continued on her search. _'I have to find this map before I lose my cover though! Hurry up you guys!'_ with that thought she turned and began to dig through another pile of treasure quickly.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

The moment the small flash of light appeared, Luffy and Zoro leapt into action. Without preamble, the duo landed in the middle of the camp and Luffy launched his rubber fist at a random guard holding a barrel. At the same time, Zoro sent a slash at a bunched up group and sent them to the ground. The barrel fell to the ground and cracked open, sending food everywhere.

The other members of Buggy's crew became startled, and moved to attack Luffy and Zoro after a moment's pause, but between the two of them anyone who came anywhere _near_ the center of the clearing fell in seconds. So much so, that within a mere forty-five seconds of touch-down, all but Buggy, his two officers, and the lion Richie were on the ground in various states of unconsciousness. Buggy, meanwhile, simply glared at the two intruders and quickly gestured at his two officers.

"Mohji, Cabaji, take care of these flashy buffoons! I won't have some flashy daredevils ruin my good mood!" He pointed down at Zoro and Luffy, and the two men plus lion jumped into action. Luffy, however had something to say.

"Oi! I'm not a baboon! My nose isn't nearly as stupid as theirs is!" Luffy glared at Buggy who responded by beginning to actively study Luffy. Neither captain noticed the other three people look confused at Luffy's bungling of terms and then stop mid-charge, but instead they simply stared each other down. It was then that Buggy came to realize that this man was _unnaturally_ tall. Like, Grand Line level tall. Buggy promptly began to shake in fear.

' _No way! There isn't anyone in East Blue that tall! He must have come from the Grand Line to flashily take my head! But why?! Maybe he heard of my time with Captain Roger? No it can't be— the only people who know about that are Rayleigh-san and—'_ Buggy looked at Luffy's head and there he saw a straw hat. _The_ Straw Hat. He paused.

"HEY! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT DAMN HAT! DID YOU FLASHILY STEAL IT FROM SOMEONE?!" Buggy's voice strained, but his yell carried down to Luffy, and his remaining crew mates stopped their second charge. Luffy gripped his hat and simply looked at Buggy.

"No way! Shanks gave me this hat to hold onto! I'd never steal from someone I like!" Luffy looked askance at Zoro who was now holding two stolen swords he had filched from two fallen goons. "Why do you care you stupid Red-Nose?!" Luffy huffed in anger and turned to glare at Buggy who then turned red and glared right back.

"HAH?! WHO ARE YOU CALLING RED-NOSE, HUH?! I'LL FLASHILY KILL YOU!" Buggy jumped down from his throne and began to sprint at Luffy. At the same time, the other two pirates turned and began to run at Zoro, again. Seeing this, Zoro turned and moved away from where his captain would soon be fighting, it wouldn't do to get caught up in each other's carnage after all. Mohji, Kabaji, and Richie followed after him, and all four left their respective captains to duke it out in the center of the clearing. Zoro smirked.

' _Show em who's boss Captain'_ Zoro continues to run until the sounds of fighting could barely be heard in the distance. Then, satisfied at the distance away from Luffy, Zoro stopped and looked the two others dead in the eyes. They too stopped when he did.

"So, what kind of fighters are you two? I 'm a swordsman" Zoro pulled his two stolen swords out as well as his Wado and got into a ready stance, "My name is Roronoa Zoro" The men before him tensed and looked at one another, and began to ready themselves as well.

"I am Cabaji, and I am an acrobatic swordsman myself!" Cabaji leapt onto a unicycle and pulled out a sword as well.

"And I am Mohji, a beast tamer!" Mohji pulled out a whip and slammed it on the ground before he jumped onto the lion's back. He then turned and sneered at Zoro, "Tell me 'Pirate Hunter', why are you here? Have you come for Buggy-sama's bounty?" Mohji began to circle around to Zoro's right side. "And who is the man with you? Some kind of intern?" Mohji asked Zoro while atop the prowling Richie, and the moment he finished, Richie began to rear back for an attack. Zoro pointed the sword in his right hand at them.

"I'm no longer a bounty hunter, and the man I am with is my Captain! I have become a pirate under Monkey D. Luffy!" Zoro pulled his swords over his right shoulder and tensed. "And that, is quite enough talk from you! See if you can handle my Santoryu!" He pulled his swords down in front of him quickly "36 Pound Cannon!" Without a flourish, he launched a circular slash of air at the trio who quickly jumped away. Except Cabaji, who had no means to jump, and instead took the full brunt of the attack and promptly fell from his now crumpled unicycle.

Seeing his comrade fall, Mohji pulled on Richie's hair, and the man-beast combo jumped to attack Zoro with both of Richie's paws. Rather than fall to them however, Zoro moved away from the attack and regarded the duo with interest.

"I've never seen a man tame a lion before— You'll have to tell me your secret after I've cut you down!" At this, Zoro jumped forward and slashed downwards at the pair. So fast was he that they barely found an escape route in time. After jumping to the side, they turned to plan their next attack, but were interrupted when Zoro appeared in front of them, swords drawn.

"You need to work on your awareness! You'll never defeat someone like me if you can't even track them!" Zoro slashed out with the sword in his right hand and it collided with the side of Richie's face. Luckily for the lion, Zoro was not aiming to kill and had turned his blade and struck him with the flat side. Still, the lion became dazed, and with no means of attack, this left Mohji stranded and defenseless. Or so Zoro was led to believe,

"Nyahaha! Practice what you preach Roronoa! You're undefended and I can easily cut you down!" The previously defeated Cabaji was now in the air and flying towards Zoro. His unicycle lay in tatters behind him, and he was more bruise than skin, yet he still moved towards Zoro.

Cabaji had _thought_ he would surprise Zoro, but rather than surprised, Zoro just looked disappointed. "I _did_ notice you. That's why I _said_ you need to work on your awareness!" Zoro turned on a dime and locked swords with Cabaji. But rather than a small interlock and then push off against one another's blades, Cabaji took the advantage of being so close to Zoro and spit in his eyes.

"Nyahaha! Acrobatics, Basilisk Spit Technique!" Cabaji pulled a dagger from his side and swiped it at Zoro who was busy wiping the spit from his eyes, "Acrobatics Secret Technique! Side-Swipe!" He plunged the dagger forward, but Zoro had seemingly had enough, and pushed Cabaji away from him and finished wiping the spit from his eyes.

Cabaji realized he fucked up when Zoro looked up at him with pure malice in his eyes. "You call yourself a swordsman?! No man worth his honor spits in the eyes of his enemy! You dishonor the name of the blade you carry! Let me teach you a lesson—" He was interrupted by the sound of a snarling lion, and was forced to back peddle away from the man-beast combo that appeared at his side. After their failed attack, the man-beast combo then jumped and landed next to Cabaji. Zoro clenched his hands around his swords. Then he set the right one in the sheath and pulled his bandana off his arm and wrapped it around his forehead. The moment he did, his mind cleared of rage and he felt as though he became ten times stronger.

"Nyahaha! You think a bandana will make you stronger?! You may be the famous Pirate Hunter, but we are Buggy-sama's strongest warriors! You may be able to take on one, but against both, not even you can defeat us!" Cabaji pointed his sword at Zoro. "Now watch out for my Acrobatics techniques! Here I come Roronoa!" Without speaking, Richie and Mohji moved left while Cabaji went right, and they began to flank Zoro. Then they leapt at him, and Zoro distantly heard a jumble of words including 'Beast' and "Acrobatics', but he was focused, and nothing could truly penetrate his mind now.

"Santoryu—" Zoro brought the swords in his hands over his Wado in his mouth, and the moment the two clowns neared him the aura of a tiger surrounded him. As they closed in, he brought the swords forward in a descending slash that collided with all three opponents simultaneously and caused each one to promptly be cut open and go flying away. "Tora Gari!" He let his swords follow through and then placed all three in their sheaths and walked over to the fallen forms of his opponents. He didn't need to be a doctor to see they were defeated, and so he picked them up and threw them over his shoulders and then he moved and began to walk over to where his captain had been fighting.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **Before Zoro Left, Buggy's Island**

The moment Zoro began to move away, Luffy prepared himself to fight. Buggy closed in quickly, and the moment he moved at Luffy, he received a swift punch to the stomach which _should_ have sent him flying, but instead hs chest merely disappeared.

"Gyahahah! You— You fool, no normal attack can, can defeat me! I am the great" He spit some blood on the ground with a disgusting sounding 'blegh' and turned back to Luffy, "The Great Buggy-sama, and I ate the Bara Bara no mi! I am the flashy splitting human, and— ugh, most attacks will not do anything!" Despite his bravado, his monologuing was interrupted by his obvious discomfort. He hadn't expected Luffy to be fast enough to _actually_ hit him, and when he did hit it _hurt!_

"But that looked like it hurt. How can you be invincible if you can get hurt?" Luffy turned his head in confusion, but Buggy simply glared.

"I'll show you after I cut you open!" His body separated into many pieces and began to circle around Buggy's head. "Bara Bara Festival!" Within the swirling mass of body parts, Buggy's right hand made its way around and behind Luffy unnoticed, where it had brandished a dagger. Buggy then brought it down on Luffy's unprotected side, but similar to the fight on the other part of the island it didn't work as intended. The moment the dagger came within striking distance Luffy's body just moved away without even looking at the hand. Buggy's eyes widened.

' _Not only is he Grand Line sized, but that was definitely Haki! Shit! He's here to flashily kill me!'_ Buggy's attacks were all quickly and easily blocked from Luffy, and every time he slapped Buggy's body part away Buggy felt the distinct pain of a Haki infused slap like he used to receive from Rayleigh.

"Oi, You flashy giant! Why are you here? You come to this island to flashily kill me?" Buggy began to be pushed back as Luffy slapped every one of his body parts away from him with ease.

"No! We just need some supplies and other stuff, but if you don't stop annoying me with those 'secret' attacks I just might throw you into the ocean!" Luffy sent a fist at Buggy's face, but Buggy quickly dodged. His surprise only multiplied when the arm kept on stretching out.

' _Him too?! I thought I was the only devil fruit user in the East Blue! It may be better for me to just let him flashily take my stuff before I get killed off!'_ Buggy began to wind down, when suddenly from out of his treasury Nami appeared holding _his map,_ and a bunch of money as well.

"Oi! You damn girl, don't flashily take what doesn't belong to you!" Buggy moved to attack Nami, but his legs were suddenly yanked from under him, and the monster behind him glared.

"If you wanna get to her you've gotta get through me first!" His arms stretched up and kept on going, and suddenly Buggy felt himself being pulled along.

' _Did he find out that my legs are my anchor? No way!'_ His thoughts were interrupted as his body suddenly forcefully reformed, and he had his answer. The haki surrounding Luffy's hands became evident, and the way he had clenched Buggy's legs meant he forced him into a corporeal form. Buggy broke out into a cold sweat.

"Gomu Gomu no…." Luffy began to spin his arms in the air, and then once they had spiraled he quickly let them unspiral which began to spin Buggy at incredible speeds and then brought his arms down as fast as he could, Buggy still stuck inside his grip. "Mallet!" Luffy's hands flew down to the ground and slammed Buggy's head into the dirt. This promptly knocked him out and cracked the ground around his impact zone. Luffy turned to look at Nami.

"You get the stuff you were looking for?" He looked at the stuff in her hands, and she nodded dumbly. She had been _assuming_ he was strong because of Zoro's personal reputation, but she hadn't thought he could so easily beat one of the strongest pirates in the East Blue! She felt even more surprise a moment later when Zoro walked up from behind Luffy with two of the stronger looking guys from earlier on his shoulders. He set them down next to their captain, and looked at Luffy.

"They were much more interesting than those weak guys at Shells Town, but it was no challenge, what about you Luffy?" Zoro sat down on the ground and leaned against a large stone. Luffy smiled at Zoro.

"No problem here! He seemed to recognize my hat, so I wanna ask him about that before we leave" Luffy reached over to where a slab of meat was laying. "Shishishi, looks like they were about to eat when we arrived! Shame to let good food go to waste, huh?" He shoved the meat into his mouth and smiled at Nami and Zoro. Zoro smirked back and grabbed a barrel of booze from nearby and a mug to go with it. He started to drink without preamble.

Nami just numbly began to munch on a piece of meat she grabbed from a nearby table. _'If he had no problem with Buggy, then he might even be able to beat Ar— no! Sanp out of it! Even if— He might not even want too! I can't get my hopes up! I just have to get a little more money and then I can—'_ her thoughts were interrupted as Luffy began to move around the camp, meat still in his mouth.

Zoro too watched in curiosity as Luffy walked around, but the moment he grabbed some rope, Zoro too began to search. It was when Luffy returned to their impromptu camp and began to tie up Buggy's body that she realized he was preparing for an interrogation.

' _He's smarter than I thought. I was sure he was just some dim-witted guy with all brawn and no brains'_ Zoro too returned with rope moments later, and began to tie up the two fallen officers and the lion. The group of three then continued where they left off, and Zoro and Luffy continued to consume mass quantities of food and booze. Time began to pass, and Nami started to count out her loot, when the Buggy pirates began to stir.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

Buggy's eyes didn't open when he first woke up thankfully, and instead he felt the obvious restrainment of rope around him. Worse than that however, was the fact that he couldn't separate his body into pieces. He made to pretend to sleep again, but was caught before he could.

"Ah, you're awake!" He was picked up and set right side up again. Then he opened his eyes and came face to face with the man who had just wiped the floor with him. Great.

"You. What do you want with me, you flashy monkey?" Buggy gave his best glare, but against the three-meter-plus monster, it had little effect.

"You recognized this hat" Luffy held out _the_ hat and placed it in front of Buggy's eyes. "Where did you see it?" He put the hat back on his head and gave Buggy a searching look.

Buggy decided to tell the truth was the best course of action. "A man I used to sail with wore it. That flashy bastard is the reason I have this devil fruit, and I'll never forgive that damn Red-Hair—" His tirade was cut off as Luffy leaned forward into his space.

"So you sailed with Shanks? Were you on his crew or was it with Gold Roger? Huh? Which was it?" As Luffy spoke, the other two conscious people looked on in astonishment, and Buggy wasn't surprised. There were big names being thrown around.

"We flashily sailed with Captain Roger when we were much younger" Zoro gave him a strange look.

" _You_ sailed with the Pirate King? You're so weak though! I heard only true monsters ever sailed with the Pirate King" Zoro stared at him in disbelief, and Buggy clenched his jaw, but ignored it.

"Anyways Buffy, have you seen Shanks recently?" Luffy was looking at Buggy with excitement.

"No, and my name isn't Buffy, it's the Flashy Buggy-sama!" he hadn't seen him, not for over ten years. Luffy deflated and began to walk away, but Buggy called out to him.

"Oi, You flashy Straw-Hatted bastard! What are you gonna take from me?!" Buggy moved up and looked at the group of three that was quickly moving towards his boat. Luffy turned to speak, but Nami beat him to it.

"Everything, I figure I can get a good price for this ship somewhere, and we need the food too" She began to walk away, but Buggy looked on in panic,

"Gyah! You can't flashily take my stuff and then abandon me here! I'll die! I can't swim or anything!" Buggy scooted forward with the bindings still in place.

Luffy looked at him and Nami, and once more made to answer him, but this time Zoro spoke first.

"The loser in a duel between men shouldn't whine after defeat!" Zoro glowered at Buggy, but Buggy didn't stop moving around, and stared at Luffy.

"You said it yourself Straw-Hat! You don't want to kill me, but if you abandon me here with no food I'll die!" Buggy looked Luffy dead in the eye, and this time Luffy did answer.

"Ah, then you can join my crew! You aren't so bad Bucky, and you aren't that weak either, so if you call me captain then you can sail with me!" Luffy grinned, and the two people behind him looked astonished, but Zoro simply smiled to himself.

"DON'T KID YOURSELF! I'M A CAPTAIN ALREADY, IF I ABANDON THESE GUYS THEN WHAT ARE THEY?!" It was a hasty response, but it was somewhat true, without Buggy the Buggy Pirates would be destroyed with ease. At Buggy's yelling, his crew all began to wake up, and started to watch the proceedings.

"Oh, well then they can join too, they just have to call _me_ Captain!" Luffy smiled, and the pirates on the ground looked from Luffy back to Buggy in confusion.

Buggy however, was deep in thought. It was no secret that Buggy most valued his life, fame, and money, _'and under the protection of someone that strong my life will be protected and I can get way more money! And not to mention how famous I'll become! Plus my crew won't be abandoned.'_ Buggy looked up at the three people who had completely destroyed his base, and he came to his answer.

"I flashily accept! The Buggy Pirates will be flashily absorbed into the— wait, what are you guys called?" He looked at Luffy in confusion.

"Ah! Shishishi, we're the Straw Hat Pirates!" Luffy smiled and Nami smacked her own face, while Zoro just nodded easily.

"Of course, The Buggy Pirates will be absorbed by the Straw Hat Pirates!" Buggy looked at his former crew who were also looking at him, and then they all cheered.

"Yay! Straw Hats!" The crew suddenly began to stand up and move towards Luffy, but he stopped them. He had an annoyed look on his face.

"Have you heard of a man called Whitebeard?" Everyone nodded. "Well he has such a big crew, but only _some_ are on _his_ ship" Luffy pointed at the former Buggy pirates. "That's what you guys will do, you are all Straw Hats now, _but_ you'll sail on your own ship so I don't get crowded, deal?" Luffy had been undoing Buggy's restraints the whole time, and when he finished he outstretched his hand.

Buggy meantime couldn't believe his luck! He gets someone stronger than him to defend him, the chance to make even more money than he had been, the guarantee of fame worldwide, and he still gets to be in charge of his crew when all is said and done! The only thing he lost in the exchange was the title of Captain, and he wasn't all that attached to it anyways. _'Imagine the infamy I'll get by serving under this monster! Gyahahaha!'_ Buggy shook hands with Luffy and his men cheered loudly around them. He was right after all, today _was_ a good day.

"Sounds like a good deal Captain, when do we flashily set sail?" He let go of Luffy's rubber hand and looked around at his men.

"Shishishi, let's go right now Commander Buggy!" Luffy turned and walked up to the Big Top and jumped onto the boat. Buggy's men looked at Buggy and then Luffy, saluted and got to work.

' _Time to flashily make my mark!'_

 **AN:** some parts of this were hard to write. The lack of a destroyed town means Luffy isn't as hostile to Buggy. This means a somewhat-different-from-canon Luffy would have no qualms inviting a non-weak guy into his crew, and this Luffy is different in some ways. His ambition isn't as clear cut as Canon Luffy's, so this means there will be changes. Next chapter features Usopp and maybe Sanji, and some more changes to the One Piece world.


	6. The Liar

Chapter 6: The Liar

 **Buggy's Island, East Blue**

Luffy wriggled into the makeshift throne at the front of the forecastle of Buggy's ship and he idly fiddled with the knobs at the end of the arm rests. Behind him he heard various mutters and the telltale sounds of discourse, but rather than pay it any mind he continued to make himself comfortable. A few feet behind him Zoro thumbed the pommel of one of the blades he stole and stared blankly at his new comrades.

' _Luffy works faster than I'd have guessed. I thought he'd be more selective because of how picky he is, but I guess it makes no difference to him if they don't travel with us'_ Zoro's eyes moved from the back of Luffy's new chair and onto the faces of his new 'crewmates' and he landed on one in particular.

At the edge of one group was a nondescript man with no swords on his belt despite the obvious signs of a novice swordsman. Zoro's eyes moved from his fingers—covered in cuts— to his belt— which was looser than a regular belt ought to be around the hips, and then he remembered. He had stolen the swords he was currently using from that novice, and the novice looked to be upset about it. Zoro deliberately caught the other man's eyes and smirked, and in response the novice flinched and glared back. Zoro tensed his muscles and prepared to move forward, but stopped when he felt _something_ on his back. He stopped mid-movement and turned his head to see Luffy's eyes bearing into his. Zoro sighed inwardly but just nodded. There would be no more fights today.

Luffy turned his head to look down at the main deck and jumped back up to his feet. "HEY! Why aren't we moving yet?! I just said SET SAIL! So let's get to it!" Luffy turned to look at each person on the boat, but it was Mohji who stepped forward. Luffy stared at him.

"Um— Hello Lu—uh Captain Luffy-sama, My name is Mohji, and I am… I _was_ the first mate of the Buggy pirates" Mohji looked uncomfortable, but no one moved to say or do anything to help him. "The thing is Captain-sama, we uh no longer have enough food supplies for a voyage to the Grand Line" Mohji bowed low and flinched when Luffy took a step forwards.

"Oh? Is that it? We can just get some more food Lion-guy! There are plenty of islands around, right Nami?" Luffy turned to Nami who was staring lovingly at a pile of gold, She nodded without even turning her head away. "See! Also just call me Luffy or 'Captain', we don't need any of those fancy titles, pirates are free to say and do whatever they wanna!" Luffy walked down the steps of the forecastle deck and onto the main deck where he clapped a hand onto the stunned Mohji's shoulder. He proceeded to pat Richie's head. The former Buggy Pirates looked shocked, but remained where they were standing. Luffy huffed and then his eyes caught Zoro's.

Zoro understood what he was trying to convey immediately. "All right everyone! You heard the captain, get ready to set sail!" Zoro stood up from his leaning position and all around him the men broke from their stupor and began to run about getting ready to leave the island. Zoro stretched and began to walk over to the starboard rail. "You guys down there! How close are you to being done?" Zoro looked down over the rails at the group of men who had been ordered— by Nami— to load any and all treasure _not_ on the Big Top into the cargo hold _immediately_. They had been working for some time.

"We are almost finished Zoro-sama! This is the last load" A man holding a chest full of gold nodded behind him where a dozen or so other men were carrying similar loads. Zoro nodded once.

"When you're done get on board, we're leaving soon!" Zoro turned away from the railing and looked at the men milling about. His eyes caught Nami standing at the helm and speaking with a man who was evidently the navigator. On the main deck was Mohji and his lion, and Cabaji, and both of them were staring at him as though he'd grown two heads and six arms. He gave them a glance and they began to move around as well. The only people _not_ moving were Buggy and Luffy who were mid-conversation on top of the forecastle.

"—I'm telling you, I'm _not_ going to put a _Straw Hat_ on top of my flashily beautiful Jolly Roger!" Buggy was right in Luffy's face and glared at him. "It'd be flashily acceptable to put _your_ Jolly Roger up, but I will not modify mine!" Luffy jerked his head angrily, and huffed.

"Alright, fine! But when I have mine made it goes up there and yours comes down! _I_ am the Captain of this crew, and I won't have _my_ crew sail under the authority of the wrong flag!" Luffy glared at Buggy, and then turned and stared at the highest post atop the main mast with something akin to a calculating look. Zoro didn't even get a chance to speak before his captain's arm stretched upwards and the man followed after it. Zoro turned and he couldn't believe it, but Luffy was standing _above_ the highest jolly roger of the Buggy Pirates. Zoro gaped.

"I will _never_ sail under someone else's Jolly Roger as the captain! " His loud cry was met by astonished silence as everyone on board stared up at him. "I am the highest authority on this boat, and I won't accept anyone saying otherwise!" He stared down at the main deck and turned to the helm where an annoyed Nami stood flanked by several men who were staring up at Luffy in admiration. "Nami take us to the nearest inhabited island, please!" With his last order in place, Luffy turned on one foot and continued to balance on top of the pole, but now he faced forwards.

Zoro couldn't help but smirk. His captain may be weird and dumb, but he knew what it meant to be the captain. Also, if the faces of the people on board were any indication, he had just gained much admiration.

Meanwhile, Buggy just stared blankly at Luffy. He had not been expecting his new captain to exert dominance over him so easily. Now Buggy was left in a strange position where he admired the man for his brash and commanding ways, and was also annoyed that he had undermined his well built authority so easily. In the end, he shrugged, _'If my new captain is flashy then so be it! Captain Roger was too and he became the Pirate King, so it can't be that bad'_ Buggy watched as the last of the men filed onto the ship.

The anchor was pulled up and the sails dropped, and the new navigator began to plot their course. The new members of the Straw Hat Pirates cheered at the start of their voyage, but were quickly back at work without so much as a yell. Zoro was an effective first mate, and it showed.

Down on the deck, Nami peered down at a map stretched over a barrel. She had located on the map exactly where they were, and was now figuring out which inhabited island was closest. She took one more glance at the paper and tuned to the helmsman.

"Alright we are headed to the Gecko Islands, but more specifically to Syrup Village. It's the closest inhabited island that has enough trade and supplies for us to stock up" She pointed to it on the map. "You know how to get here right? Good, I've got something to do" With that she jumped down from the helm and ran towards the entrance to the cargo hold. No one stopped her, and the boat began to move forward as the wind caught the sails.

Zoro smiled up at his captain, and the Straw Hats set off for the next island.

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **Days Later...**

 **Syrup Village, Gecko Islands**

"—The mansions old floorboards creaked as a set of feet moved through the house. The Hero wasn't being as silent as he should be, but he had no worries. Even if he got found out the Princess would just scold him for sneaking in, and then would ask him to stay for snacks. The Hero smiled to himself, and began to hum a simple tune as he passed the servants rooms. He stopped dead however at the sight that greeted him when he peered into the open door. There laying in a pool of his own blood was none other than the meddling head servant of the mansion!" Usopp's hands flew wildly in front of him throughout his story, and once he reached the climax his audience of one gasped loudly in shock. He soldiered through however.

"The Hero checked for a pulse, and to his satisfaction the man who lay before him still lived! But, the Hero knew that someone evil had been in the mansion recently, and could only have one target, the Princess!" Usopp pointed to the side and away from Kaya. "He rushed quickly to her room to find that she was at the point of the Villain's sword, but remained strong and stout! Rather than buckle in fear, she stared up in defiance and when the Hero burst in, er, heroically, she called out in joy!" Usopp coughed and looked absolutely enamored with a random tree branch. Kaya giggled.

"Oh great Hero! You came to save me! Now smite down this evil Villain and let's live happily ever after!" His voiced had raised nearly two octaves, so his throat now hurt, but Usopp grimaced and carried on.

"The Hero of course agreed and pointed his trusty slingshot at the evil Villain and shot only once! The Villain was hit directly in the head by the pellet, and passed out in fear! The Hero saved the Princess and they put the Villain in the dungeon forever! The end" Usopp bowed theatrically while Kaya clapped and laughed. He smiled back and took a peak at the clock in her room.

"Ah sorry Kaya-san, but I've gotta go, the others are waiting for me again and I can't be late! I'll come by soon!" Usopp shimmied his way down the tree and began to run off, all the while waving behind him at Kaya. She smiled and waved back.

' _Usopp is kind to come and visit me even though I'm always sick. Hopefully Klahadore's medicine works soon!'_ Kaya sent a small prayer forward, and turned back to her room and her studies. She had work to do as well!

Usopp finished running over the hill that led down Kaya's property and then keeled over and began to wheeze. Everytime he left he put on a show of athleticism, but he was not cut out for running anywhere! Slowly, Usopp caught his breath and then he looked down the treeline and began to walk down to the Usopp Pirate meeting spot. He would teach his crew even more pirate spotting techniques today!

The moment Usopp got within a hundred yards of their secret base he heard yelling coming from one of his subordinates. Ninjin was evidently raising a ruckus now that his captain had returned, and Usopp continued to move forward with a doctored sense of leadership. The shouts became clearer once he reached the edge of the small clearing.

"This is REALLY BAD! For once there really _are_ pirates coming, and the Captain isn't here! What'll we do?" Ninjin ran around like a chicken with no head, and promptly ran into a stump and tripped. The other two members of the Usopp pirates looked at him only to see Usopp's form a ways past him. They clammored towards Usopp.

Ninjin stood up quickly. However, when he realized neither of his 'crewmates' were looking at him he knew something was up.

"Now now Ninjin-kun, did you really think such a simple tactic would work on the great Captain Usopp-sama? I'll have you know I created the 'pretend you don't know they're there' tactic, and put it to great use many years ago! You really must work on your technique Ninjin-kun!" Usopp stared down at the boy with a severe look, and the two other boys paled.

"No! I wasn't tryna fool you Captain, I know not to use your own techniques against you! This is for real, I did see a pirate flag over the ocean!" Ninjin pointed over his shoulder towards the ocean. Usopp looked unimpressed. "Ask Piiman and Tamanegi, they saw it too!" He pointed at the other two boys and Usopp turned to them.

"Ah, so this is an advanced tactic is it? Well you should know not to use the powerful moves so soon after a weak attack, you need to build up to your more powerful moves to create suspense, it's just common sense!" Usopp huffed and looked down at the other two boys. "Piiman, Tamanegi, surely you see there is no use in trying to convince me? I know all of your moves before you use them, so it is impossible to defeat me!" Usopp put his hand on his hips and laughed.

"Captain Usopp, He's telling the truth, we really _did_ see a ship on the water!" Piiman quickly turned to Tamanegi "Tell him Tamanegi! You saw it too right?" He was nearly begging, and Usopp got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"I did see it Captain Usopp! A pirate ship with a Jolly Roger that looked like a clown! It was coming this way!" Usopp's eyes bugged out and he ran past the kids a second later. He clamored up a ladder attached to a tree and pulled out a small telescope. With a small clicking noise the telescope extended to full size, and Usopp put the looking device up to his eye. He felt his heart stop.

Already nearing the shore was a pirate ship bearing the mark of Buggy the Clown, and on the top of the tallest mast was a man who seemed to be making eye contact with him through the telescope. Usopp's heart began beating again, but this time it threatened to pound out of his chest. A real pirate was coming here, and he had nothing he could do about it.

"Captain, what are we gonna do? The villagers never believe us anymore when we tell them a pirate is coming!" Ninjin looked up at Usopp in obvious fear, and was joined on either side by the other two boys. Usopp's teeth chattered, his hands shook, and his skin crawled, but he knew there was only one thing he _could_ do right now.

"We have to ready a defense! We _cannot_ allow pirates to attack our town or the people who live in it! People like Kaya-san could never muster up the strength to defeat a pirate, so we will have to do it for them!" Usopp made his grand speech while atop a boulder, and his crew sat below him cheering. In truth the words were easy for him to say, but the hard part was actually following through on it. "Listen up boys, we have one shot at this, and we have to make it count! Do everything exactly as I tell you, got it?" The three boys nodded their assent and Usopp pushed away his encroaching fear. "All right, first Ninjin I need you to—"

-SotF -SotF -SotF -

 **The Beach, Gecko Islands**

The Big Top pushed through any and all waves it came across with ease. Nami had to admit it was a nice enough ship, for a pirate ship anyways. It handled everything it came across, and when the newly dubbed Straw Hat crew came across a light storm it had weathered everything with ease and grace. In truth, Nami had little interest in the ship now that it wasn't something that could be sold. The treasure in the cargo hold on the other was something she was very keen to watch over for hours.

Unfortunately, her preferred leisure activity was not available to her because the Straw Hat crew was full of lack-witted imbeciles who couldn't tell a cirrus from a cumulus! Therefore, as per the terms of her _temporary_ alliance, she had to be on deck almost the whole time watching over the idiotic pirates and ensuring they didn't steer their own ship into a giant sea storm.

On the plus side the ignorant pirates now understood the vital importance of a _competent_ navigator, and they knew their future voyages would be fulfilling in the future. At least, until Nami betrayed them that is. Nami laughed softly to herself, and reveled in the sheer amount of money she'd be making soon.

Moments later a loud yell tore its way across the deck of the Big Top.

"ALL RIGHT MEN! LAND HO! PREPARE TO DISEMBARK!" The loud noise came from the very top of the ship. The same spot that the captain occupied and had occupied for the entire trip to the Gecko Islands. The very same man who Nami had been thinking about off and on for days. Him and his First Mate, the Pirate Hunter Zoro.

Nami had no idea what to make of Monkey D Luffy.

He was a kind man, but had a sharp tongue for those who disobeyed. He was strong too, stronger than anyone Nami had seen outside of _maybe_ Arlong, but he never _ever_ raised his hand on a comrade. And strangely, he was wise. Not smart, but wise in a way that showed he had seen the dark underbelly of society, but had decided he didn't want it to affect him forever. Nami stared up at Luffy.

He then jumped down from the mast and landed with a satisfying Boing! noise, and Nami was again flabbergasted. He was also taller than anyone she'd ever seen, and had a presence that was unmissable as well!

Luffy then fell on his side when the aftershocks of his jump passed through his body.

And yet he was so dumb! He was kind and strong and fair. But he was an absolute imbecile! He was a walking talking contradiction of nature! Nami had only ever known two kinds of people: the evil ones who were strong and could do whatever they liked, and the weak ones who struggled and fought and fought but always lost.

Yet! Here was a man who was strong _and_ kind. He was _good,_ and everyone on the boat agreed. Everyone agreed, and they had been beaten soundly and easily by him. Everywhere he walked people wanted to speak with him and be his friend. Not to mention he had earned the loyalty of a man who had been called a demon!

Nami clenched her fists. Why? Why did she get stuck with a pirate like Arlong when a pirate like Luffy existed? If only it had been Luffy who had taken over her town, she knew he wouldn't have killed Bellemere if he had decided to come and—

"Oi, Nami. You alright? You're looking a little scary there" Luffy put his head right into her view. Nami nearly screamed.

"I'm fine Luffy, I was just thinking" Nami unclenched her fists, and hoped Luffy didn't notice the blood marks on her palms, but judging by the way he looked at her, it seemed he had. She clenched her jaw in preparation for the belligerent remarks.

They never came.

"Alright, if you say you're fine then I'll believe you. Just—" Luffy stared at Nami with _that_ look, and she nearly screamed at his overworked empathy. "Just tell me what I can do to help and I will, okay? That's what friends are for, right?" He took one long look at her, and she nodded. His hat fell down his head somewhat, and rested just above his eyes.

"Luffy, we're preparing to land" Zoro had walked over to them at some point, and Nami almost screamed _again_. Luffy just looked at him from the side and nodded. Zoro walked off, and Luffy took one more glance at Nami and walked away as well. Nami breathed out a ragged breath.

' _I can't get attached! This is probably just some elaborate ploy to get into my pants or take my money! He isn't any different from any other pirate!'_ Nami shook her head back and forth, and continued to chant negative things in her mind. She then walked over to the side of the boat where Luffy and Zoro were standing mid-conversation with Buggy.

"— and I'm telling you that to flashily bring everyone onto the island would get the Navy called in a minute! Only a few of us should go, and the rest should stay here!" Buggy poked Luffy in his chest by floating his hand the majority of the distance. Luffy huffed, but nodded in agreement. "—and I can't go because I am a flashily wanted man! Also! Bring the sensible one so you don't get sidetracked! I'll find a better spot to flashily moor the ship and send Cabaji to flashily tell you where it is, okay?" Buggy pointed to his own chest and then out at Nami when he said 'sensible', and Nami got a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"All right, then I'll bring Zoro and Nami with me! Buggy, you are in charge until I get back!" Luffy pumped a hand in the air and another landed on Zoro's shoulder who merely smirked. Luffy Jumped over the ledge without a care and was quickly followed by Zoro. Nami frowned, but began to descend down the ropes along the side of the ship.

The moment they touched ground the Big Top lurched with movement. Luffy took several large strides forward, but then stopped midstep.

"There's someone in the trees" Luffy looked straight forward, and Zoro put a hand on his blade and Nami set one on her collapseable staff. Zoro moved to Luffy's side, but Nami stayed put.

"I can't see anyone, are you sure they're there Luffy?" Zoro had moved in front of Luffy and now had his hand all the way around his sword's handle. He may not _see_ the enemy, but he trusted that Luffy wouldn't lie.

"Yeah, one man and three kids" Luffy pointed right into the copse of trees on top of the hill, and suddenly a myriad of flags appeared right where he pointed.

"Tremble and fear wicked pirates! For I am the great and powerful Captain Usopp-sama of the Usopp Pirates! I command over 8000 men, and we have taken over this island as our own!" The flags jerked around as if they were being pulled back and forth on a set of pulleys. "Now run in fear and never return to the Gecko Islands again!" The voice carried well over the empty beach, but the audience of three was unmoved.

"There's no way you have 8000 men under you! I can only feel four of you guys, and no one can hide from me!" Luffy yelled right at the trees, and the flags stopped moving. The sound of scurrying and twigs being smushed was heard, and then the whole area went quiet.

"So, you've seen through my trick? No matter, I am the legendary Captain Usopp-sama, and I can even kill the legendary giants of Elbaf!" A pellet flew out of a bush at Luffy's face, but he sidestepped it and it instead landed in the water.

"A pirate, huh? Don't you realize what a fool you're being?" Zoro's eyes looked right up at Usopp despite the bushes obscuring him. "This" He pointed at Luffy, "Is a _real_ pirate. His punches can crack _stone_ and he's even defeated a Marine Captain" Usopp took a stuttered step back, but rallied and moved forward out of the bush. Zoro remained staring up at him, and Usopp pulled back the string on his slingshot and pointed it at Luffy.

"Now that you've drawn your weapon, are you prepared to put your life on the line?" Usopp paled and stared down at Luffy in fear. Nami chanced a glance and saw that Luffy had a deadly serious look on his face. She took a step back as well.

"Hu—huh?! What do you mean, put my life on the line?" Usopp's voice cracked.

"That thing in your hands isn't a toy!" Luffy glared up at Usopp who fell on his back. "To draw your weapon in the face of a pirate is a direct challenge! If you aren't prepared to fight and die then don't pretend to be bigger than you are! A weapon isn't used for threats, but for battle!" Luffy's voice pierced the air, and suddenly all was quiet. Not a single animal made noise. Usopp realized he was staring at a _real_ pirate now.

"So— will you put your life on the line, or will you put away your weapon?" Luffy's hat fell over his eyes and shadowed them so all Usopp saw was the drawn line of his mouth.

He put his slingshot down.

Luffy broke into a grin. "Shishishi! Sorry to get so serious, I just wanted to try out the line Shanks said once!" Usopp looked on aghast, and Nami sighed in relief. Zoro's smirk told any who dared look that he'd known this might happen. "You said your name was Usopp? Is your dad Yasopp by any chance?" Luffy looked up at Usopp.

Usopp quickly recovered from his shock. "Yes, that is my dad's name! Do you know him?" Usopp took a step forward off the boulder, and then fell and rolled down the hill like a rock until he landed at Luffy's feet.

"Yup! He's a pirate I met once!" Luffy crouched down, and Usopp then realized how far down he had crouched. He had thought the two on his side were short, but it was the one in the middle who was unnaturally tall! Usopp swallowed thickly and returned to reality.

"A pirate?! He is? I always said so, but no one ever believed me!" Usopp leaned forward into a sitting position and looked up at Luffy. "Is he famous? Or— is he strong— no wait, what's he like?" Usopp asked Luffy.

Luffy wasn't even looking at Usopp though.

"Ah! How nostalgic! Yasopp is a member of Shanks' crew!" Luffy looked down at Usopp as if that answered all his questions. In truth it really did.

"Shanks? As in the Yonko?!" Both Nami and Usopp looked surprised.

"Shishishi! Yup, he's a member of Shanks' crew, so he's super famous _and_ strong!" Luffy smiled at Usopp. "Though, I haven't seen them for ten years, so I don't know how he is, but when I did see him he talked about you all the time!" Luffy leaned down and continued to smile at Usopp.

"Really?! So he's a brave warrior of the sea, and on a super famous crew?! Awesome!" Usopp looked starstruck for a moment. "Alright! I've gotta set sail and go and meet up with my dad!" Usopp took one confident step past Luffy, but Nami grabbed his shirt.

"Wait! If you don't mind could you show us the way to the town? We have some stuff we need to do there" Nami let go of Usopp when he turned around. He calculated her for a moment and then turned to Luffy and Zoro.

"Okay! I can help out the guys who told me about my dad. It'd be bad manners if I didn't treat you guys to some food too! My mom always taught me how to properly thank people!" Usopp held up a fist and pointed his finger in a seemingly random direction. "Alrighty then! Follow me to Syrup Village!" With a confident step Usopp moved forward. Zoro, Luffy and Nami followed behind.

-SotF-SotF-SotF-

 **Syrup Village**

"Help! There are pirates coming! They're gonna kill Captain Usopp!" Ninjin yelled out as he ran down the town's main road. A few townsfolk peered out their windows, but none of them moved past that. The three boys slumped on the side of the road.

"Ninjin, Piiman, we'll never get them to believe us! We've gotta seek out Kaya-san and have her ask for help instead!" Tamanegi loudly proclaimed. The three boys nodded once at each other, and began to move towards the manor.

"Ah! Guys, we aren't allowed to enter the Manor! How will we let Kaya-san know if we can't get in?!" Piiman yelled at his two comrades who both stopped moving. Ninjin and Tamanegi looked to be in thought for a moment, and then both seemed to have a light bulb go off over their heads.

"We should just run around and look for the Captain then!" Tamanegi stepped forward with his proclamation.

"Yeah, yeah! He's super strong, so he probably got away from the pirates easy peasy and is already evacuating the villagers!" Ninjin took a step forward as well and stood side by side with Tamanegi. Piiman nodded as well.

"Yeah! Let's go look for him now!" All three ran off to look for their captain and began to yell out his name rather than yelling about pirates.

A few moments after they took off, Usopp and the Straw Hat Pirates walked over the hill and took in the sight of the town.

"It's small" Zoro took one look at the town and seemed to be bored with it. Usopp turned to yell at him, but was stopped.

"Hey Usopp, are there any restaurants that serve good meat? I've only had crappy meat lately so I want some good stuff!" Luffy poked Usopp's ear.

"OI! Don't poke someone in the ear! Do you know how rude that is?!" Usopp started to jab his finger up at Luffy, but Luffy just laughed. "Tch! To answer your question, they do serve meat at the restaurant, and it is pretty good" Usopp grumbled to himself, and Nami felt as though she had met a kindred spirit. "Let's go, the restaurant is just over that hill" He walked forward, and the pirates followed.

She wouldn't say it out loud, but Nami agreed with Zoro. The village _was_ small. Within ten minutes they had passed through the entire place. The villagers had glared and grumbled at Usopp, and most had said something regarding 'corrupting the kids', but Nami expertly pretended to ignore it.

True to form, the restaurant was small as well. The waiter arrived after what seemed like an hour but was closer to ten minutes. He was short and fat and ugly. In short, he was a pig.

"What'll ya be havin then?" He spoke down at them with a gruff tone, and seemed to ignore the boys in favor of ogling Nami. Luffy took exception to this.

"Give me meat! And a lot of it!" Luffy leaned forward with his yell, and impressed his height on the short and fat waiter. The man seemed to understand the subtle threat, and more importantly the difference in power, and then turned his gaze to Zoro.

"Booze. The good kind" Zoro didn't even glance at the waiter, and instead focused on his Wado. The waiter felt some sweat bead on his neck, but turned to Usopp next. He frowned, but gestured at him regardless.

"Whatta bout you trouble maker?" He glared at Usopp, but it seemed to pass right through him.

"Nothing for me, just treating my new friends" Usopp gestured at the Straw Hats, and Luffy and Zoro smiled at him.

The waiter grumbled, but didn't write anything down, and turned his gaze at Nami again. This time though he felt the cold hand of death on his neck, and only looked at the ground next to her. Nami was touched by the threats from her temporary crewmates.

"Just a small dessert please, whatever the chef recommends" Nami thumbed a piece of hair and watch as the pigman scurried away with the glares on his back. Nami sighed. "You guys didn't have to do that, but thanks anyways" She put her chin on her palm. "You'll never believe how many men think that they can just stare at me as they please! As if I'd let them get a show for free!" Nami huffed and crossed her arms.

"I hate guys like that!" Luffy crossed his arms and glared at the door. Nami was somewhat surprised. She knew Luffy would protect his friends, but she thought that so long as it didn't affect someone he liked then he'd be mostly okay with anything.

"Why?" she asked, but Luffy just looked at her with confusion. "I mean I agree of course, but why do you hate men like that?" Nami studied Luffy carefully.

"Anyone who sees another person as nothing more than an object they want to have is worse than scum!" Luffy's glare intensified, and now all three other table members were looking at him.

Nami was surprised at many things. Firstly, she hadn't thought Luffy felt that strongly about anything as heavy and _real_ as that. The fact that he did meant something in the past had happened. Secondly, the fact that even _Zoro_ was surprised meant it was something private. She had gathered that they had been together only a short while, but they knew each other _really_ well. That meant they had bonded and shared a lot about themselves. Thirdly, and perhaps the most important, was the fact that this inversely correlated to the way Arlong ran things. He treated his crew as game pieces, and Nami wasn't any better. However, Luffy was disgusted by this line of thinking. He was Arlong's opposite. Nami felt some shred of hope break through her walls as she looked on at Luffy's angry glare.

Zoro took one look at Nami's pensive stare and quickly changed the subject to fighting techniques.

' _He isn't lying is he? He actually thinks like this! Does that mean he really is nice? Is he actually a good pirate?'_ Nami stared at Luffy who was now gesturing with his fists to demonstrate his punch. _'Would he helped me if I asked? Is he strong enough to fight a fishman who is ten times stronger than a normal man?'_ Nami's mind raced, and she stared emptily at Luffy's chest for several moments.

Then the food arrived. She was knocked from her stupor and brought back to the real world as a small cake was placed in front of her. The waiter didn't wait and scurried away once more. Everyone at the table began to eat. The food was pretty good, and everyone was busy enjoying their food or drink except Usopp who had three conversations at once going.

Then he abruptly stood up, and tossed some money down on the table. "Sorry guys, but I should probably go tell my er— my friends that I'm gonna be leaving the island. Hopefully we can see each other again soon!" He turned and ran out the door quickly, and mere moments later three boys ran into the restaurant.

"Ah! Pirates, what did you do to our Captain?!" Ninjin yelled at them, and Luffy used the bone from his meat to pick his teeth.

"Ah~ that was some good food you guys!" He smiled at Zoro and Nami who smirked back and stared down at the kids.

The three boys then remembered something Usopp had once told them.

" _Be careful with pirates guys! Some of them eat their enemies when they're done beating them up! They drink their blood too!"_

All three boys stared up at Luffy in his unnaturally tall height and shivered.

"Don't tell me you—you—" Zoro stopped drinking his booze and wiped some of it from his mouth and proceeded to join Luffy in staring down at them.

"About your captain—" The three boys leaned in despite their fear. "We ate him! Hahahaha!" Zoro grabbed his stomach and broke out laughing. The boys cowered in fear and turned to run, but bumped into Nami instead.

"Where are you guys running off to?" Her grin had turned lethal, and the boys screamed at promptly passed out. The Straw Hats stood still for a moment, and then broke out in laughter.

"Shishishi! Who knew they'd really think we ate Usopp?" Luffy set his arm on the wall, and Zoro chuckled as well.

"We should probably head into town to see where the supplies are" Nami gestured behind her with a small smile still on her face.

"Okay! Let's take these guys with us so we know where Usopp ran off to. We can say goodbye before we leave that way!" Luffy's arm stretched and grabbed two of the boys in a small coil, and Zoro picked up the other. All three of them walked out the doors

"Sounds good to me. If we go to the center of town then the Fake Swordsman should meet up with us soon to tell us where the ship is" Zoro walked out of the tent and turned _away_ from the town center.

"Where are you going?" Nami called over to him, still at the entrance of the restaurant.

"I'm headed for the town square" Zoro pointed at what was clearly a cliff face in the distance.

"Are you an idiot?" Nami stared at Zoro who looked to be getting angry. "The town square is _this_ way! Not over a cliff!" She stomped ahead and began to move towards the center of the village, and Zoro followed after her despite his anger. Luffy took up the rear.

"Man, you may be strong but you sure are dumb Zoro! Shishishi!" Luffy laughed from behind Zoro. Zoro turned around with some anger in his eyes.

"You're the _last_ person I want to hear call me dumb!" Zoro glared at Luffy who just kept on laughing. And the three Straw Hats kept moving right along towards the center of the town.

They didn't realize that something interesting was happening on the coast that Buggy had chosen to moor the Big Top at. They walked forward trading jokes and barbs, and the world tilted _just a little_ on its axis.

 **AN:** I had planned for the whole Usopp saga to be one chapter, but got carried away while writing and ended up making it too long. The climax comes next chapter which will be posted on Wednesday the 13th I think. Thanks for reading!


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